Tamil Nadu Political Parties Close Ranks Against Lok Sabha Delimitation, Leaving BJP on the Defensive

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin arrives at the Secretariat in Chennai for an all-party meeting to discuss the proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha seats in the State on March 5, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

When political parties in Tamil Nadu met at the State secretariat on March 5 to condemn a possible delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies, the story that emerged was that of the complete isolation of the BJP in the State.

Barring the BJP and former Union Minister G.K. Vasan’s party, the Tamil Maanila Congress, all other political parties took part in the meeting. The main Opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which usually does not participate in all-party meetings convened by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), made it a point to participate and articulate its views. Actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam too was represented in this meeting.

Earlier, the Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had convened a meeting of all registered political parties in the State to discuss the dangers posed by the delimitation of constituencies in India. Stalin said that States that performed well in family planning should not be penalised.

The BJP has repeatedly dismissed this claim and said there was no talk of delimitation at all so far. Asked if the party was isolated, BJP State Vice President Tirupathy Narayanan said this was not the case. “We feel that the BJP has become very strong because it is very clear that it is the DMK and all others on one side and the BJP on the other. So, it has definitely been established now that it is DMK versus BJP in Tamil Nadu,” Narayanan told Frontline. “You will also realise that the people are supporting us [the BJP] on many issues. The DMK’s attempts to divert attention from its own governance failures will not succeed,” he added.

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In resolutions passed at the meeting, Tamil Nadu demanded that the Union Government abandon any move to reduce, either absolutely or in percentage terms, Tamil Nadu’s current Parliamentary representation in any form. “We will not accept any punishment for acting in the national interest by successfully controlling population growth,” it said.

The all-party meet demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, give an assurance in Parliament that Tamil Nadu and the southern States will not be penalised. This was because there was confusion in Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech in Coimbatore on February 27, where he said that the number of representatives from Tamil Nadu will not be reduced. The assurance that Tamil Nadu wanted was that if that were the case, then, all other States also should not have an increase in the number of representatives in the Lok Sabha. 

‘A disguised weapon’

The resolution said the Prime Minister must give “an unequivocal assurance in Parliament that the 1971 population-based seat allocation will be extended for another 30 years, and a constitutional amendment must be passed to ensure this.” If Parliamentary seats are increased, Tamil Nadu’s representation must rise proportionally as per the existing framework, it added. “No manipulation or dilution of our rightful political voice will be acceptable. Tamil Nadu’s existing percentage of seats, 7.18 per cent of the total, must not be reduced under any circumstances. Tamil Nadu is not against delimitation, but it cannot and will not allow it to be a disguised weapon against progressive states.”

As a next step, Stalin announced that all political parties (with MPs in South Indian States) will be approached to form a Joint Action Committee to immediately take up this cause as a battle in every forum and mobilise necessary support.

Representatives of most political parties, who spoke at the meeting, demanded clarity on what the Union government had in mind in the question of delimitation, as this was mandated by the Constitution. There was also the problem that such an exercise should be linked with census. But since no census was done in 2021 (being a pandemic year), and as there was no attempt to conduct the census in subsequent years too, it was not clear how the Union government would deal with these questions.

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P. Shanmugham State secretary, CPI(M) noted that delimitation was an all-India problem. “No State should be affected. We should look at it as a problem that extends beyond Tamil Nadu,” he said. Tamimul Ansari of the Manithaneya Jananaya Katchi wanted the Chief Minister to convene a meeting of all affected States to discuss the issue and chart out a path forward. Jagan Moorthy of Puratchi Bharatham, a party that works with Scheduled Caste communities in north Tamil Nadu, said that if the number of constituencies went down, then the number of reserved constituencies too would fall. This would be catastrophic to the oppressed people, he said.  

Stalin later said that he was thankful “to all parties that stood together as a single unit… setting aside political differences to send a clear and uncompromising message on the unjust delimitation initiative.”