Chennai, Mar 24 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin informed the State Assembly on Monday that a delegation of MPs from the State would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to ensure a fair delimitation exercise and to protect the rights of TN and other states which were likely to be affected by it.
Making a statement in the State Assembly highlighting the success of the historic first meeting of
the Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting organised by the State government here two days back,
he said MPs from all the political parties in Tamil Nadu, having representation in Parliament, would
be part of the delegation.
The proposed meeting with Prime Minister was to carry forward the slogan "Tamil Nadu will fight, Tamil Nadu will win", on the proposed delimitation exercise based on current population, which
might result in reduction of Lok Sabha seats not only for Tamil Nadu, but also for all Southern
States.
Stating that the lead taken by Tamil Nadu on delimitation has created an impact across the country, Mr Stalin said "on behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu, through this August House, I thank all the political parties, including the main Opposition AIADMK, for supporting and participating in the meeting of the JAC held in line with the decision taken at the All party meeting convened by the
ruling DMK here on March five, in which representatives of nearly 58 parties, barring the BJP, participated and pledged their support to the government on the issue.
Recalling the resolutions adopted at the JAC meeting held on March 22 in which the Chief Ministers of Kerala, Telangana, and Punjab, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, and leaders of various political parties from seven states which were likely to affected by the delimitation based on the present population, participated, Mr Stalin reiterated that the exercise should be done in a manner that the political representation and democratic rights of Tamil Nadu and other States, which stand to lose in number of Parliamentary seats undertaken based on the 2026 population, are protected.
He also pointed out to another resolution adopted at the meeting demanding freeze on delimitation should be extended for another 25 years.
Mr Stalin, who had made the first move by presiding over the JAC meeting, said the JAC expressed its deep concern on the lack of transparency and clarity in the impending delimitation exercise without any consultation with the various stakeholders.
While lauding Mr Stalin for taking up this initiative to safeguard the political and economic future of performing States in India, a resolution said based on the various points and scenarios put forth by the representatives during the discussions, the JAC unanimously resolved that any delimitation exercise carried out by the Union Government to improve the content and character of democracy should be done transparently, enabling political parties of all the States, State Governments and
other stakeholders to deliberate, discuss and contribute in it.
"Given the fact that the legislative intent behind the 42nd, 84th and 87th Constitutional amendments was to protect / incentivise States which have implemented population control measures effectively and the goal of national population stabilisation has not yet been achieved, the freeze on Parliamentary constituencies based on 1971 Census Population, should be extended by another
25 years", it said.
The resolution said States which have effectively implemented the population control program and consequently whose population share has come down, should not be penalised and the Union Government must enact necessary Constitutional Amendments for this purpose.
Resolving that the Core Committee consisting of Members of Parliament from the represented States will coordinate the parliamentary strategies to counter any attempts by the Union Government to undertake any delimitation exercise contrary to the principles mentioned above, it said the Core Committee of MPs would submit a Joint Representation to Mr Modi during the ongoing Parliamentary
session.
It was resolved that the Political Parties from different states represented in the meeting will initiate efforts to bring about appropriate Legislative Assembly resolutions in their respective States on the issue and communicate the same to the Centre.
"The JAC will also undertake necessary efforts to disseminate information on the history and context of past delimitation exercises and the consequences of the proposed delimitation among the citizens of their respective States, through a coordinated public opinion mobilization strategy", Mr Stalin said.
UNI GV 1730