Chennai Meeting Debates Delimitation Issue
The strategic objective of the meeting was to deliberate on ways to compel the central government to delay the delimitation until a more equitable method is devised.;
In Chennai, a significant all-party meeting convened under the guidance of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin, focusing on the contentious issue of the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies, which is said to unfavorably affect South Indian states. This gathering, orchestrated by the DMK, saw the participation of influential figures including Chief Ministers and opposition leaders from multiple states. Among the attendees were Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, BRS working president KTR, PCC President Mahesh Kumar Goud from Telangana, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan, Shiromani Akali Dal President Balwinder Singh, and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
The core of the discussions revolved around the belief, strongly voiced by Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and Tamil Nadu's Stalin, that the current BJP-led central government is allegedly manipulating the delimitation process to the detriment of South Indian states. The concern raised by leaders emphasized that recalibrating constituencies based on population metrics would unfairly benefit North Indian states by increasing their representation at the expense of the South. The strategic objective of the meeting was to deliberate on ways to compel the central government to delay the delimitation until a more equitable method is devised.
Criticism towards the meeting emerged from the BJP, with leader Tamilisai Soundararajan specifically calling out the assembly for choosing to focus on delimitation over other pressing issues, such as the dispute over the Cauvery waters. This critique highlights a perceived discrepancy in the priorities addressed by the meeting's organizers.
