Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Saturday chaired a meeting of the state’s MPs to formulate a united response to the Centre’s proposed delimitation exercise, even as major regional parties DMK and AIADMK did not attend it.
The meeting, held at Kalaivanar Arangam, was attended by around 21 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, primarily from the Congress, VCK, CPI, CPI(M), MDMK and IUML.
The participating leaders unanimously agreed to strongly oppose any population-based redrawing of constituencies that could diminish Tamil Nadu’s political representation.
“This is an issue beyond party politics. This is an issue that concerns Tamil Nadu’s rights and Tamil Nadu’s representation in the Parliament of India. Tamil Nadu can’t be diminished in the Parliament of India. Tamil Nadu’s place in the Parliament of India must be preserved. Any delimitation, whatever might be that formula, whether it is based on population or a uniform increase, will diminish our role in Parliament, and that can’t be allowed.” Chidambaram told reporters.