DMK invites Telangana CM to attend meeting on delimitation

CHENNAI: A delegation of DMK leaders on Thursday invited Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to the meeting convened by his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin, on delimitation in Chennai on March 22.

The delegation, including party MP Kanimozhi, state minister K N Nehru, and former Union Minister A Raja met Reddy in Delhi regarding this.

Revanth Reddy, who alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre is "conspiring against the South" in the name of delimitation, said he had, in principle, agreed to attend the meeting but would seek permission from the AICC leadership.

Describing delimitation as a "limitation for the South," the CM alleged that the BJP wants to settle scores against South India through the delimitation exercise, as the region has never allowed the saffron party to grow.

"The BJP is conspiring against southern states in the name of delimitation. Delimitation is going to be a limitation for the South. This is not delimitation. At any cost, we are not going to accept this limitation," he said.

"We are paying more taxes than North India. We are contributing everything to the nation. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and even Karnataka have rejected them (BJP). They have no representation in Andhra Pradesh. That is why they want to settle scores. This is vendetta politics," he told reporters.

Asserting that the NDA government's conspiracies would not be allowed to succeed, he welcomed the stand taken by Stalin.

Before the meeting in Chennai, the Telangana government would host an all-party meeting on delimitation in the state.

He said he would also invite BJP leaders in Telangana, adding that they must take responsibility for protecting the state's rights.

Revanth Reddy said he had instructed his deputy, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and senior Congress leader K Jana Reddy to invite Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, as he is the president of the BJP in Telangana.

Kishan Reddy must raise his voice in the Union Cabinet as the state's representative, he said.

On Wednesday, Vikramarka urged various parties in the state to attend the all-party meeting proposed by the Congress government on the delimitation of constituencies.

On March 7, the state cabinet decided to organise an all-party meeting on delimitation to ensure that Telangana does not suffer any injustice in the process.