Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay has asked the Union government to provide a legislative assurance that no state's representation in Parliament will reduce due to delimitation.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Thursday requested the Union government to offer a legislative guarantee ensuring that any state's representation in Parliament would remain unchanged following the delimitation exercise, as reported by The New Indian Express. Delimitation refers to the process of redrawing the boundaries of electoral constituencies. The CM highlighted the significant strides made by southern states in population control, human development, and economic growth, emphasizing that these achievements should not lead to penalties for meeting national objectives. This appeal comes a week after the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution advocating for the permanent retention of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. During his introduction of the resolution, Vijay also proposed implementing the 33% reservation for women in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections based on the current 543 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government introduced the 2026 Constitution 131st Amendment Bill in April to amend the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act and redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies. However, the bill was rejected by the Lok Sabha due to a lack of support from the ruling National Democratic Alliance. Vijay's recent remarks have attracted criticism from both the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, with Opposition parties accusing him of shifting his position on the proposed delimitation exercise. The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, however, defended Vijay's speech as presenting a 'broad visionary perspective' to protect the current representation of southern states. Meanwhile, Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday expressed support for retaining the current allocation of Lok Sabha seats for another 25 years, including Tamil Nadu’s 39 seats.
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