Vijay-led meet ends with Tamil Nadu leaders opposing delimitation, backing 39-seat share

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Saturday said the state’s representation in Parliament must be protected, as he led a meeting of MPs to build a united political response to the Centre’s proposed delimitation exercise.

The meeting at Kalaivanar Arangam was attended by around 21 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, largely from the Congress, VCK, CPI, CPI(M), MDMK and IUML. However, the ruling DMK and opposition AIADMK stayed away, along with some of their alliance partners.

Congress Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram said the leaders who attended the meeting unanimously opposed any population-based redrawing of constituencies that could reduce 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,” Chidambaram said, according to ANI.

“Tamil Nadu can’t be diminished in the Parliament of India. Tamil Nadu’s place in the Parliament of India must be preserved,” he added.

Chidambaram said the participating parties wanted the strength of Parliament to remain fixed at 543 seats and Tamil Nadu’s representation to remain at 39.

“We want the Parliament to be frozen at 543 and the distribution among the states to be preserved as it is, which means Tamil Nadu will have 39 members in a House of 543,” he said.

He argued that any delimitation based on population or a proportionate increase in seats could weaken Tamil Nadu’s influence in Parliament and said such a move would be resisted.

Congress MP Jyothimani also warned that the proposed exercise could have wider consequences for Tamil Nadu and the country.

“We have deeply discussed all the issues concerning the delimitation, like how it will be destructive to Tamil Nadu as well as to India. This should be stopped at any cost,” she said, urging other political parties to join the opposition.

DMK, AIADMK skip meeting

The absence of the DMK and AIADMK became a major point of contention at the meeting.

According to ANI, Tamil Nadu has 57 MPs in both Houses, but only about 20 were expected to attend. All 30 DMK MPs stayed away, while AIADMK’s four MPs also skipped the meeting. The PMK, MNM and DMDK, which each have one MP, were also absent.

Congress MP Praveen Chakraborty criticised the two major Dravidian parties for not attending.

“It was very disappointing that the party that governed the state for 6 terms and the party that governed the state for 5 terms did not participate in a meeting called by the chief minister to defend the rights and freedom of the people of Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Chakraborty said the Congress and its allies wanted no reduction in either the total number of parliamentary seats or Tamil Nadu’s share.

“Our demand is very clear: we do not want any change either in the total number of seats or in the share of Tamil Nadu’s seats,” he said.

Congress MP Vishnu Prasad also criticised the DMK, AIADMK and their alliance partners for their absence, warning that a delimitation exercise could reduce Tamil Nadu’s representation and influence in Parliament.

The meeting comes amid reports that the Centre could revive efforts to introduce delimitation-related legislation, with speculation that a bill could be brought during the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.