Chennai: The AIADMK and BJP Wednesday opposed the special resolution moved by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay against constituency delimitation, while maintaining that any future exercise should not reduce Tamil Nadu’s representation in Parliament.
Participating in the Assembly debate, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami said delimitation itself was not objectionable if carried out for administrative convenience. However, he stressed that Tamil Nadu should not be penalised for successfully controlling population growth.
Palaniswami said his party had already urged the Union government to protect Tamil Nadu’s existing representation ratio during any delimitation exercise.
He referred to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s assurance that Tamil Nadu’s representation would not be reduced.
According to Palaniswami, protecting the state’s representation ratio could actually result in Tamil Nadu gaining more Lok Sabha seats.
He said the number of MPs from the state could potentially rise from the present 39 to 59 following delimitation.
He argued that constituencies with very large electorates could be redrawn for better administration as long as the exercise did not disadvantage Tamil Nadu.
The AIADMK leader accused the TVK government of bringing the resolution for political reasons even before the details and consequences of the proposed delimitation were known.
Palaniswami said the AIADMK therefore opposed the resolution on delimitation but supported the proposal relating to reservation for women.
BJP MLA M. Bhojarajan also opposed the resolution and questioned the need to adopt it when the proposed delimitation exercise was still under consideration.
He argued that changes should be made in accordance with the evolving needs of the population and said society should be prepared to accept reforms required for future generations.
Referring to the new Parliament building, Bhojarajan said it has been designed keeping the country’s future requirements in mind. He maintained that India should move forward with necessary changes while ensuring that Tamil Nadu’s interests and political representation were protected.
The BJP legislator said delimitation was still at the proposal stage and questioned the urgency behind the state government’s move.
He also highlighted the BJP’s support for greater political representation for women.
Despite stressing that Tamil Nadu should not suffer under any future delimitation, Bhojarajan made clear that the BJP would not support CM Vijay’s special resolution.
