Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party president K. Annamalai dubbed the proposed unified resistance of southern states against the delimitation as "drama".
"The March 22 meeting of representatives from southern states as part of the unified resistance against delimitation led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is only drama. DMK is only using delimitation as a diversionary tactic," said Annamalai in Bengaluru on Friday.
#WATCH | Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai says, "We have to understand that delimitation is a non-issue...Like One Nation One Election, we are talking to the people now. A committee has submitted a report before the Parliament and we all know the way forward. When delimitation… pic.twitter.com/MYXXlmb1gb
— ANI (@ANI) March 14, 2025
Arguing that the proposed delimitation would not alter the proportional representation of states in the Parliament, Annamalai said, "No state will lose or gain as the delimitation will be pro rata. For instance, Tamil Nadu has 39 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, which is 7.2 per cent of the seats. After delimitation, it will still have the same proportion of seats."
He also criticised the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government for rejecting the National Election Policy and also changing the rupee symbol to Tamil alphabet, and slammed Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar for agreeing to attend the March 22 meeting in Chennai.
It’s been nearly two years since forming government, yet @siddaramaiah has never shown the same urgency when it comes to fighting for Cauvery & addressing Bengaluru’s drinking water crisis - even during last summer’s peak shortage.
— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) March 13, 2025
Did @siddaramaiah ever protest against… pic.twitter.com/lPU9xPJ2o9
Karnataka BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra reiterated his Tamil Nadu counterpart's argument that the DMK government in Tamil Nadu was "anti-Centre" and it did not augur well for a federal system of democracy.
"The Tamil Nadu government is opposing the proposed delimitation, NEP and has also changed the rupee symbol and adopted an anti-Centre strategy for political reasons. It is unfortunate that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has extended support to Stalin (in the unified resistance) as the people of Karnataka will suffer due to the conflict between the Centre and the state," said Vijayendra, adding that the two chief ministers should instead discuss the contentious Cauvery water sharing issue and resolve it.
Vijayendra also claimed that J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had the "right approach" and the people of J&K would greatly benefit from it. The BJP leader was referring to Abdullah expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for extending the Central assistance to his state in the Union budget.
Vijayendra, in an X post, condemned the Tamil Nadu government's move to remove the 'rupee symbol', stating, "The rupee symbolizes India's economic power. By despising the rupee symbol, Tamil Nadu government has demonstrated its separatist attitude and creating a rift in the unity of the country."
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The BJP leader condemned the Congress party's silence over the "anti-national" move (changing the rupee symbol) of its ally stating that the Congress party prioritised power politics above the nation's unity, though the rupee symbol was adopted during the UPA regime.
He also alleged that the DMK government and Stalin were trying to sow seeds of "hatred" in the minds of the people of Tamil Nadu ahead of the upcoming state assembly polls. "People of Tamil Nadu will not fall for this diversionary tactic as Stalin is using regionalism and language issue to divert attention for the lack of development in the state," said Vijayendra.
