Anbumani backed anti-TN Bill fearing CBI: TNCC president Manickam Tagore

CHENNAI: TNCC president Manickam Tagore on Thursday criticised PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss for supporting delimitation over the increase in the number of Lok Sabha constituencies, accusing him of backing the BJP-led Centre's exercise at the expense of Tamil Nadu's political representation and state rights.

In a social media post tagging Anbumani, Tagore questioned whether the PMK leader was making what he described as "fundamentally flawed" arguments in support of the BJP government's delimitation proposal due to pressure from a CBI case.

Responding to Anbumani's argument that Tamil Nadu could win 59 Lok Sabha seats, Tagore said MPs' primary responsibility was to make and amend laws, not to directly implement development projects. He argued that greater powers and financial resources should instead be devolved to local bodies.

Tagore also questioned Anbumani's argument for increasing the number of seats in the name of women's representation, asking why a 33% reservation for women could not be implemented immediately within the existing 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.

According to Tagore, delimitation would punish Tamil Nadu for successfully controlling its population and weaken the state's political voice in Delhi.

He also questioned Anbumani's participation in the ongoing Parliament session, asking how many minutes the PMK leader had spoken in the Lok Sabha, and argued that the problem was not the number of MPs but the manner in which Parliament was functioning.

Tagore concluded by accusing those supporting such a delimitation exercise of committing a "historical betrayal" of Tamil Nadu and said the state's rights would not be surrendered.