Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Wednesday that the southern states would not lose even a single Lok Sabha seat due to the delimitation exercise undertaken by the Union government.
Speaking to the BJP workers in the state at an event in Coimbatore, Shah said the southern states will get additional seats on a pro-rata basis when delimitation is carried out.
“Mr Stalin, the Modi government has made it clear in Lok Sabha that after delimitation, on a pro-rata basis, not a single seat will be reduced in any southern state. And I want to reassure the public of South India that Modi ji has kept your interest in mind to make sure that not even one seat is reduced pro-rata. And whatever increase is there, the southern states will get a fair share, there is no reason to doubt this," Shah said.
Alleging that the people of Tamil Nadu were disturbed by Stalin's statements, Shah said the chief minister and his son Udhayanidhi were trying to distract the public attention from the failure of the state government.
“The prime minister will ensure that not even a single seat is lost for any state. I take this opportunity to assure the people of South India that the Union government will keep their interests in mind and ensure that they are duly represented in the parliament,” he said after inaugurating the new BJP office in Coimbatore.
The home minister criticised the chief minister for “lying” and “misleading” the people of Tamil Nadu and "trying to divert attention" from the failures of his government.
தொகுதி வரையறையில் தமிழகத்துக்கு இடங்கள் குறைக்கப்படும் என்ற பொய்யை பரப்பி, தங்கள் ஆட்சியின் அவலங்களை திசை திருப்ப நினைத்த, முதல்வர் @mkstalin -க்கு தக்க பதிலடி கொடுத்து அவரின் முகத்திரையை கிழித்த உள்துறை அமைச்சர் திரு.@AmitShah அவர்கள்..! pic.twitter.com/d2ctKVGBc4
— BJP Tamilnadu (@BJP4TamilNadu) February 26, 2025
“You are lying to Tamil people and misleading them with false claims about delimitation. I demand your reply, why are you making these false claims?”
Shah’s remarks came a day after the chief minister called for an all-party meeting to discuss and unanimously decide the state's strategy on the delimitation exercise which he termed as a “Damocles' sword” hanging above the southern states. Stalin said Tamil Nadu could lose eight seats and the number of Lok Sabha seats might come down from 39 to 31.
Apart from explaining the delimitation exercise and Stalin’s claims, Shah accused the DMK and its leaders of money laundering, corruption in sand mining and involvement in scams. He called the DMK a party with a “master’s degree in corruption”. Accusing the DMK-led government of the poor state of law and order, he said, “Tamil Nadu’s law and order standards are going low compared to other states.”
Shah urged the BJP workers to work towards establishing the NDA government in Tamil Nadu and said that the 2026 election will be a turning point. Stating that the separatist and divisive ideologies promoted in the state now should be eliminated, he said “All anti-national forces should be destroyed here. Time has come, DMK’s anti-people, anti-national government should be sent out of power.”
