The consultative meeting convened by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on the central government’s proposed Delimitation exercise seems to have drawn flak. Both the Dravidian majors—the AIADMK and the DMK—have decided to boycott the all-party MPs' meeting convened by CM Vijay.
The 80-day-old Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government, under Vijay, had convened the meeting at 3 pm on Saturday to discuss the proposed parliamentary delimitation exercise. For Vijay, who had launched his party in 2024, just two years before the election, this was a strategic move intended to seize the leadership of the federalist narrative from the DMK and its leader M.K. Stalin. However, the Dravidian majors viewed the meeting as a strategic threat and chose to boycott it. Only 20 of Tamil Nadu’s 57 MPs from both Houses will attend the meeting as of now.
The meeting has been called by Vijay amid reports that the BJP might bring the proposed Delimitation Bill, as it is linked to 33 per cent women’s reservation. Tamil Nadu has been arguing that the bill is a systemic threat to the Dravidian model of governance. For decades, Tamil Nadu has been a pioneer in population control and social development; however, a seat redistribution based on the 2011 Census threatens to penalise this success—the argument put forth by the DMK and its allies then. The DMK also argues that this demographic penalty strikes at the heart of Dravidian federalism, as the projected expansion of the Lok Sabha from 543 to approximately 850 seats would disproportionately favour the northern states, effectively diluting the bargaining power of the South in the national legislature.
However, in the wake of a bruising assembly election debacle and the departure of the Congress from its alliance, the DMK seems to have adopted a posture of strategic ambiguity. In a statement, the DMK’s parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi said that there is no change in the DMK’s previous position on constituency redefinition. Labelling the meeting a “political drama” and a “charade,” DMK MP Kanimozhi signalled that the party would not provide the TVK with a platform for regional leadership. This public theatre of boycott, however, masks a quiet transition from the “Stalin era” of total resistance to a more pragmatic, conditional negotiation.
“The DMK, led by our leader M.K. Stalin, remains steadfast in its earlier stance regarding the protection of Tamil Nadu's representation and the need for fair delimitation. There has been no official announcement from the Union Government stating that the delimitation bill will be passed during the current parliamentary session. Furthermore, the revised draft bill has not yet been made available to us,” Kanimozhi posted on the social media platform X, while questioning the timing and need for the meeting called by Vijay.
This decision of the DMK is, however, termed by the TVK and its new ‘political friends’ in Tamil Nadu as a discernible shift from an absolute veto towards a conditional acceptance of the Delimitation Bill. This softening was highlighted in the State Assembly when Public Works Department Minister Aadhav Arjuna (TVK) provoked Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Udhayanidhi Stalin to clarify the DMK’s stand amidst reports of private negotiations with the BJP. Udhayanidhi’s response—that DMK President M.K. Stalin would "take a call" on the issue—indicated a departure from the party's previous demand for an indefinite freeze.
While Kanimozhi clarified the DMK’s stance, the AIADMK likened Vijay’s direct appeal to MPs to a “movie producer bypassing distributors to release directly in theatres.”
As of now, 12 MPs from the Congress, including the two Rajya Sabha MPs elected on a DMK ticket and a TVK ticket, two MPs from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, two MPs from the Communist Party of India (CPI), one MP each from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) are all set to attend the meeting scheduled to be held at Kalaivanar Arangam.
With both the Dravidian parties and a few of their allies like Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam and Vijayakanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMDK) choosing to skip the meeting, Vijay and his TVK’s attempt to hijack a long-standing regional grievance for immediate political capital seems to have drawn flak.
