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As the row over constituency delimitation intensified, Union Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday questioned Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's call for a Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting on delimitation, alleging that Stalin's opposition was an attempt to "cover up" his "corruption and failure."
"This is his (MK Stalin's) attempt to cover up his misdeeds, corruption, and failure," Joshi told ANI. He said there was no need for a committee since there was no delimitation commission. "What is the need of this committee when there's no delimitation commission so far, no terms of references?" Joshi asked. Accusing Stalin of "talking nonsense things," he said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured that the number of Parliamentary and Assembly seats would not be curtailed. "The Home Minister himself has assured that there will be no reduction in the number of MP or MLA constituencies. Why talk nonsense things despite knowing that?" Joshi said. Stalin called for a joint effort from various political parties to raise their voices against delimitation, calling for a JAC meeting on March 22 in Chennai and inviting representatives from various political parties to join against the "blatant assault on federalism." "First JAC meeting in Chennai on March 22, 2025. Let us stand together not as separate political entities but as protectors of our people's future," MK Stalin wrote in a post on X. Earlier today, Stalin also wrote to the Chief Ministers of seven states, both from National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ruling states and otherwise, to join him in the "fight against this unfair exercise." He has written to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi, and heads of all political parties in those respective states to join him. Calling upon state units of national parties and regional parties to send senior representatives for the JAC, he tagged the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Telegu Desam Party, Jana Sena Party, AITC, Janata Dal, Aam Aadmi Party, Akali Dali, Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI, AIMIM and multiple other state units for the meeting. Meanwhile, Congress backed CM Stalin's stance on delimitation. However, the party has not yet confirmed whether they will join the JAC meeting on March 22. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh opposed any move to penalise states that have successfully implemented family planning measures in the context of delimitation and language policy and underscored the importance of linguistic diversity, saying that any form of 'linguistic imperialism' is unacceptable. Ramesh emphasised that states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which pioneered population stabilisation, should not be disadvantaged in terms of parliamentary seat allocation. In his letter to other CMs, Stalin pointed out that the previous delimitation exercises were conducted in 1952, 1963, and 1973, but they were frozen by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 until the first census after 2000. The freeze was extended in 2002 until the census after 2026. However, with the 2021 Census delayed, the delimitation process might happen earlier than expected, potentially affecting states that have controlled their population and achieved better governance. The Chief Minister stated that if the exercise is based on population after 2026, states with better population control would face a reduction in parliamentary representation, which he called unjust. He also stated that the Union Government has not clarified the matter, only offering vague assurances. (ANI)
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