After Tamil Nadu, Punjab CM targets Centre on delimitation

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday alleged that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre wants to reduce the number of parliamentary seats in areas where it does not win elections.

Interacting with mediapersons, Mann said that two Tamil Nadu ministers would be meeting him regarding the joint action committee (JAC) meeting called by the southern state’s chief minister, MK Stalin, on the proposed delimitation of parliamentary constituencies.

“I spoke to Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin and two state ministers are coming to meet me. We want to know how many seats they (central government) want to increase. Now, they want to reduce the number of seats in Tamil Nadu because their population is low, which means they (the central government) are going against population control. They (central government) want to reduce the number of seats in areas where they do not win (elections),” Mann said.

Stalin has called a meeting of chief ministers and leaders from different political parties regarding the proposed delimitation of parliamentary constituencies on March 22 in Chennai.

The Stalin-led DMK government in Tamil Nadu has been protesting against the central government’s three-language formula in the National Education Policy and the delimitation exercise.

Stalin has called for a united political front against the proposed delimitation, urging parties to join forces in opposing what he terms is a “blatant assault on federalism”.

Earlier, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi said that the party has received “very positive feedback” from different chief ministers and leaders across the country regarding the JAC meeting on the proposed delimitation of parliamentary constituencies.

Speaking to ANI, the Tamil Nadu MP said that the chief ministers and leaders are happy that Stalin has taken up this initiative. She claimed that delimitation based on population will hurt many states, including those in the South and the North-East.