Fair delimitation or seats freeze, TVK faces heat

CHENNAI: The proposed delimitation exercise exposed sharp political differences, alignments and changing stances in the Assembly on Friday, with the ruling TVK under pressure to defend its position as Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay assured Home Minister Amit Shah of fair delimitation, even as the party earlier stood for freezing the number of Lok Sabha seats.

The DMK and AIADMK are seeking to protect Tamil Nadu’s existing representation, while the lone BJP member argued that an increase in the Lok Sabha's overall strength could result in the State gaining more seats. The PMK, too, favoured seeking additional seats if Tamil Nadu’s existing proportional share was protected.

PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna said the government and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay remained committed to the Assembly resolution seeking to maintain the present number of seats and extend the freeze for another 25 years through Constitutional Amendments.

Opposition Leader Udhayanidhi Stalin of the DMK, however, countered that Vijay had, on the contrary, batted for a fair delimitation, leading to an increase in seats, at the Southern Zonal Council meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday.

Aadhav subsequently said the government’s position would reflect the stand adopted by all parties.

AIADMK general secretary and party Legislature Party leader Edappadi K Palaniswami said his party would oppose any reduction in Tamil Nadu’s existing 7.18 per cent share of Lok Sabha seats.

Aadhav accused the DMK of changing its stand after becoming the Opposition and demanded a special law to freeze the number of seats for another 25 years, similar to the measure introduced during the Vajpayee government.

PMK MLA A Ganesh Kumar also said delimitation could bring additional seats to Tamil Nadu if its existing proportional share was protected. He questioned why the Congress had shifted from demanding fair delimitation to opposing the exercise altogether.

Social Justice Minister Vanni Arasu, meanwhile, criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his statements on the representation of southern states, alleging that Shah had made different statements inside and outside Parliament. He claimed the number of MPs from southern states could rise substantially and argued that such assurances were not reflected in the proposed delimitation framework.

As the exchange of arguments and counterarguments continued, Speaker JCD Prabhakar sought to bring the debate to a close, pointing out that the delimitation issue had already been discussed several times in the House.