Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday led a meeting of state parties – sans the opposition BJP and its local ally but including rivals AIADMK – to discuss ‘Hindi imposition’ and delimitation, topics at the heart of a row between the ruling DMK and the central government.
In the meeting, attended by 58 of 63 parties invited, Mr Stalin tabled a resolution urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure delimitation, if carried out now, is based on 1971 population levels and retained for another 30 years to motivate other states to control growth.
Apart from the BJP, the Tamil Manila Congress, the Pudhiya Tamilagam, the Pudhiya Needhi Katchi, and the Naam Tamillar Katchi did not participate. The AIADMK, the ruling DMK’s fierce rival and a former BJP ally, did attend, as did actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.
The BJP and its current ally, the Tamil Manila Congress, refused to attend, calling the meeting a ploy to divert attention from what it says is a deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
DMK-Led Resolution On Delimitation
The resolution also sought assurances that any increase in the total number of MPs will be calculated in the same proportion – MPs to states – as laid out based the 1971 census, meaning Tamil Nadu will not be penalised for successfully controlled population between then and now.
“To encourage family planning by all states, in 2000 the then-Prime Minister (the BJP’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee) gave assurances that delimitation will be drafted based on the 1971 census. Similarly, PM Modi should give an assurance the same draft will be followed from 2026 for 30 years.”
“Tamil Nadu is not against delimitation. However, this meeting requests that delimitation shouldn’t be punishment to a state that has implemented various social welfare schemes…”
The resolution also set out plans for a joint action committee – to be formed by MPs from Tamil Nadu and other southern states, which have also expressed concerns about delimitation – to “create awareness among the people about this issue”.
Last week, when he called for this meeting, Mr Stalin had warned the southern states, “… in the name of delimitation, a sword is hanging over our heads”. “Our representation in Parliament will reduce… Tamil Nadu’s voice is already being stifled. This is a matter of Tamil Nadu’s rights.”
DMK vs BJP On Delimitation
Delimitation has become a major flashpoint between the DMK (and most, if not all, Tamil Nadu political parties) and the BJP-led centre, particularly with an Assembly election due next year.
The DMK has raised red flags over the proposed delimitation, which is redrawing boundaries of parliamentary and assembly constituencies to reflect population changes over time.
Its critics, which include Mr Stalin and the DMK, contend this will put southern states – which have, on average, now have smaller populations than those in the north – at a disadvantage by reducing its number of MPs. Conversely, northern states, such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where population control has not been as successful, will get an outsized say in Parliament.
For example, Tamil Nadu now has 39 Lok Sabha seats or 7.2 per cent of the total seats.
A population-based delimitation will potentially reduce this share because the state will get fewer seats, thanks to its controlled population levels.
Several sharp jabs have been exchanged between the DMK and the BJP as this battle builds ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu election, in which it will feature as a key campaign issue.
Earlier this week Mr Stalin sarcastically called on newlywed Tamil couples to begin having children as soon as possible to boost the state’s population.
At the wedding of a party official in Nagapattinam, the Chief Minister remarked that earlier he would have asked them to take their time and plan a family. “Now… there is a situation that only if we have a large population, we can have more MPs. Get children immediately…” he declared.
What BJP Said
Home Minister Amit Shah recently assured Tamil Nadu and the other southern states that they would not lose out on seats and would, in fact, will get more seats.
“I want to reassure the people of South India that PM Modi has kept your interest in mind and will make sure not even one seat is reduced. Whatever increase is there… southern states will get a fair share,” he said as he inaugurated party offices in Coimbatore and Tiruvannamalai.
On Hindi ‘Imposition’
The BJP’s Tamil Nadu has launched a door-to-door signature campaign to push the three-language policy that the DMK, and the AIADMK, say is a method to ‘impose’ Hindi.
The BJP has denied this claim, insisting the new education policy only allows students the opportunity to learn a third language of their choice, and that it need not be Hindi.
NDTV News-India-news