Delimitation row: Stalin proposes legal fight; ‘Sword of Damocles’, says Pinarayi Vijayan | What leaders said at JAC

In the first meeting of opposition chief ministers and leaders against the proposed Lok Sabha delimitation exercise, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said an action plan must drawn to take forward the fight legally also. Addressing at the meeting, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the delimitation exercise was hanging like the "sword of Damocles” over southern states. Here’s what leaders said at the Joint Action Committee meeting against delimitation.

Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader thanked all the chief ministers and representatives of political parties for participating in the JAC meeting. India is multilingual and India means unity in diversity. The federal structure is at stake now.

We cannot accept delimitation. The states represented in this meeting took up the population control measures and have achieved development. This is not just about our numbers. But it is about our rights. It will affect the empowerment of women, farmers and students. We are not opposed to delimitation but we demand a fair delimitation.

Stalin also recalled a statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public meeting in Telangana in 2023 that the southern states would lose 100 seats.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan: The Bharatiya Janata Party is carrying out the delimitation process with a narrow political mindset. The delimitation process is like a "sword of Damocles” hanging over our heads. He accuses the BJP of carrying forward the delimitation process without consultation. He says the culture of India lies in its plurality. Points out that Kerala’s ‘Kudumbashree’ and Tamil Nadu’s mid-day meals were later adopted by several states and that the whole idea of centralisation would not allow such initiatives.

The BJP is going ahead with the delimitation since it knows the process will be advantageous for northern India. On one hand, the Union government praises us for effectively tackling the population explosion, but on the other hand, it is cutting our share of money saying your population is less. The 1976 population control policy was for the whole nation, but only a few states like Kerala implemented it effectively.

Telangana CM A. Revanth Reddy: The BJP is imposing a policy of ‘demographic penalty’. South India did very well in family planning, but big states in the north failed. We contribute more to the national exchequer and get lesser allocations. South will not accept population-based delimitation. If BJP does a delimitation exercise based on population south India will lose its political voice. In case of population-based delimitation, ‘north will make us secondary citizens’.

Earlier, DMK MP Kanimozhi presented a resolution against the delimitation in the meeting. Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin made a presentation at the meeting on how delimitation will adversely affect southern states. 

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar: “We demand that the 1971 Census remain the basis for delimitation, as it rewards states for their efforts in population control and sustainable development. The Centre is politically and economically marginalising progressive states through its unfair policies. The southern states are not ATM machines for the north Indian states and we will vow to resist the Centre’s proposed delimitation exercise. Southern states, contributing 35 per cent of India’s GDP, are treated as ATM machines for the North. Yet, our share in central funds is disproportionately low.  If the delimitation exercise proceeds as planned, our political voice will be further diminished, and our ability to advocate for our rights in Parliament will be crippled.

Shivakumar added that the southern states would not accept any delimitation formula that punishes them for achieving success in population control, literacy, and women empowerment. Shivakumar also condemned the imposition of Hindi through the “One Nation, One Language” policy, dubbed it as an “attack” on India’s linguistic diversity.