The first meeting of the chief ministers and leaders of political parties invited by Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin to discuss and deliberate on the proposed delimitation exercise will be held on March 22 in Chennai.
Chief ministers from Kerala, Telangana and Punjab, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Naveen Patnaik, Midhun Reddy of the YSR Congress from Andhra Pradesh, Congress Kerala state chief K. Sudhakaran, representatives from Trinamool Congress, IUML and Punjab Congress will take part in the meeting.
DMK has assigned its ministers, MPs and legislators to receive the dignitaries. Sources say that the leaders of the political parties from Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab and other states will land in Chennai, at least a day ahead of the meeting.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin had earlier written letters to several political party leaders and chief ministers across the country, seeking support to oppose the proposed delimitation exercise. He also convened an all-party meeting in Chennai, in which all the registered political parties, except the BJP, voiced their opinion against delimitation.
Subsequently, senior DMK ministers and MPs visited and invited the chief ministers of various states and opposition leaders to take part in the meeting to chalk out measures to prevent the states from losing their Lok Sabha constituencies.
“For the past few days, the MPs from Tamil Nadu are raising the issue of delimitation in the Parliament and are also pushing for an adjournment motion. But the BJP remains silent. Our party and our chief minister are spreading awareness among people on the consequences of delimitation. This meeting will chalk out measures to prevent the states from losing the number of existing constituencies,” says Dr N. Ezhilan, a legislator from the Thousand Lights constituency.
M.K. Stalin’s strategy
The first meeting of the JAC will mean the coming together of the opposition and the south, against the ruling BJP. Stalin’s actions to oppose the BJP in the proposed delimitation issue, three-language formula and the use of the Tamil letter Ru, instead of the national currency symbol in the state’s budget logo, have positioned himself as the ‘bulwark’ of opposition.
In the delimitation issue, Stalin’s decision to convene a national conference is looked at as a broader strategy to oppose the BJP and its policies challenge the existing federal system. Stalin has been aggressively opposing the BJP and its policies. His fight for social justice and federalism made his pitch for an alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This proposal later gained traction only to turn into the INDIA bloc. His earlier initiative in 2022- the All-India Federation for Social Justice- aimed to strengthen affirmative action policies and push for a nationwide caste census.
