M. K. Stalin alleges Centre is weaponising women’s reservation against Opposition

M. K. Stalin on Thursday alleged that the Centre is using women’s reservation as a “weapon” against the Opposition ahead of the proposed delimitation exercise, drawing sharp reactions from rivals Bharatiya Janata Party and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

The DMK leader said the Union government was not genuinely committed to implementing women’s reservation and could have done so immediately if it intended to. Instead, he claimed, the Centre was linking it to delimitation based on population to gain political advantage.

Stalin stressed that women’s reservation should be rolled out without tying it to delimitation, and reiterated his party’s demand to freeze delimitation based on the 1971 Census for fairness. He argued that states like Tamil Nadu, which successfully implemented population control measures, should not be penalised.

He also criticised AIADMK chief Edappadi K. Palaniswami for remaining “silent” on the issue.

Responding to Stalin’s remarks, BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy questioned whether the DMK actually supports women’s reservation, accusing the chief minister of using elections as an excuse to delay discussions.

Meanwhile, AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathiya alleged that the DMK was indulging in “cheap politics” and claimed the party had deliberately omitted AIADMK’s suggestions on protecting Tamil Nadu’s representation.

He also cited Union Home Minister Amit Shah as saying that delimitation would not adversely impact Tamil Nadu.