Only 21 out of 57 Tamil Nadu MPs attend CM Vijay's delimitation meeting

The meeting at Kalaivanar Arangam focused on delimitation's possible impact on Tamil Nadu, amid reports that the Centre may call a special Parliament session after August 13 to take up the Delimitation and Women's Reservation Amendment Bills.

In Short

• 19 MPs from Congress, Left parties and allies attend the meeting
• DMK's Kanimozhi says agenda of meeting remained unclear
• AIADMK calls all-party meeting on delimitation a farce

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Saturday chaired a meeting of MPs to discuss the Centre’s proposed delimitation exercise, but the deliberations were boycotted by the DMK and AIADMK, which dismissed the exercise as unnecessary and politically motivated.

The meeting at Kalaivanar Arangam focused on delimitation’s possible impact on Tamil Nadu, amid reports that the Centre may call a special Parliament session after August 13 to take up the Delimitation and Women’s Reservation Amendment Bills.

A total of 21 MPs attended, including 11 from the Congress, two each from the CPI, CPI(M) and VCK, and one each from the MDMK and IUML. Congress veteran P Chidambaram, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan and MDMK’s Durai Vaiko were among those present.

The DMK, which has 22 Lok Sabha MPs and eight Rajya Sabha MPs, stayed away. The AIADMK, which has four Rajya Sabha MPs, also skipped the meeting, as did its ally PMK.

KANIMOZHI EXPLAINS DMK BOYCOTT

DMK MP Kanimozhi said the agenda of the meeting was unclear and argued that the issue had already been extensively discussed when MK Stalin was Chief Minister.

“Today, Chief Minister Vijay had invited MPs for an all-MP meeting, but a majority of the MPs did not participate. The agenda of this meeting itself is not clear,” she said.

Kanimozhi pointed out that Stalin had earlier convened consultations on delimitation, including a meeting of five Chief Ministers, and that TVK leader Bussy Anand had participated in one such exercise.

She also pointed out that the Tamil Nadu Assembly had already passed a resolution on delimitation in February and questioned the need for another meeting on the issue.

Kanimozhi stressed that the DMK was not opposed to delimitation itself, but wanted the exercise to be conducted fairly and without reducing Tamil Nadu’s political representation.

“We did not oppose delimitation. We wanted a fair delimitation. We all passed that position unanimously,” she said.

DMK, AIADMK CALL MEETING A ‘FARCE’

Senior DMK leader A Raja described the meeting as “a farce” and “a laughable exercise”, arguing that the TVK government was discussing an issue on which there was no concrete proposal before Parliament.

A DMK MP also told PTI that inviting MPs rather than political party leaders was a flawed approach, since MPs were bound by their respective party positions.

The AIADMK, meanwhile, called the meeting a “hurriedly staged drama”, pointing out that no fresh delimitation Bill had been introduced in Parliament and there was no official announcement on the exercise.

The party questioned why Vijay had convened a meeting on delimitation while, according to it, ignoring Opposition demands for an all-party meeting on the Cauvery-Mekedatu dispute.

It accused the government of using the delimitation issue as a diversion at a time when farmers were facing water shortages in the Cauvery delta.

TVK'S STANCE ON DELIMITATION

Vijay has consistently opposed the Centre’s delimitation push, describing it as a “biased move” that could weaken the political representation of southern states, particularly Tamil Nadu.

Recently, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister renewed his attack on the Centre over delimitation, warning that the state would reject any fresh attempt to revive the exercise.

“I am also hearing that delimitation will be brought back. No matter who brings it, Tamil Nadu will not accept it. Nobody can take away our place, and we will not allow it,” Vijay said during an address in Karur.

Ahead of the Assembly elections in April, Vijay had also urged the Centre to withdraw the delimitation Bill, arguing that it would widen the representation gap between northern and southern states.

- Ends