CHENNAI: DMK parliamentary party leader and MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on Saturday criticised AIADMK for supporting the delimitation Bill brought by BJP, alleging that the party had acted against the interests of Tamil Nadu and southern States.
Speaking to reporters at Chennai airport after arriving from Delhi at around 1.30 am by an Air India flight, Kanimozhi said the reported failure of the delimitation Bill in Parliament was a matter of great relief for Tamil Nadu and the people of southern States.
She said Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had written to Chief Ministers of southern States opposing delimitation and had also convened a meeting in Chennai on the issue, while continuing to raise concerns at various forums.
Kanimozhi alleged that introducing the delimitation Bill along with the 33 per cent women’s reservation Bill was a strategy by BJP against women. She said Opposition parties had united and collectively opposed the move, leading to the Bill being defeated.
Though she said the issue was not an electoral plank, Kanimozhi maintained that AIADMK’s support to the Bill had exposed those acting against Tamil Nadu and southern States.
She further said BJP had done injustice to women by linking reservation to delimitation. The DMK’s position was that 33 per cent reservation for women should be implemented based on the existing number of constituencies, she said.
Stating that insisting on delimitation before providing reservation amounted to belittling women, Kanimozhi reiterated that combining the two Bills reflected injustice towards women.