Chennai : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay appears to have softened his stance on the contentious delimitation issue within a week, drawing sharp criticism from the Opposition. The controversy comes shortly after the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a high-profile resolution on August 12 opposing the proposed redrawing of parliamentary constituencies. Instead of reiterating the demand for a permanent freeze on the Lok Sabha’s existing 543 seats, Vijay called for safeguards to ensure that southern states do not lose their share of parliamentary representation because of their success in population control
In a calibrated remark at the 31st Southern Zonal Council meeting, Vijay said each state’s current share of parliamentary representation should be protected. The Tamil Nadu CM urged the Centre to provide a clear legislative assurance on the same. “I urge the Centre to provide a clear legislative assurance that no state will suffer a reduction in its percentage of representation in Parliament on account of its success in population stabilisation,” Vijay said.
However, sitting beside Amit Shah at the zonal council meeting, Vijay did not repeat his earlier demand for a 543-seat ceiling. Instead, he struck a more nuanced note, focusing on protecting the percentage share of representation enjoyed by states, rather than freezing the absolute number of seats. The difference is significant. Essentially, Vijay’s latest pitch appears to leave room for an expansion in the total number of Lok Sabha seats, provided the relative political weight of southern states, such as Tamil Nadu, does not get diluted.
Chennai-based political expert TR Jawahar told IndiaToday.in that it was undoubtedly a “significant softening of stand” by Vijay on delimitation. “From the strong, specific and unanimous assembly resolution position to a vague plea for safeguards. It not only lends credence to allegations of pressure from the Centre, but will ruffle allies too,” Jawahar said. However, he underlined that Vijay might have taken a cautious approach as the fresh delimitation bill had not been tabled in Parliament yet.
Being a constitutional amendment bill, the BJP-led government will require two-thirds support to get it passed in Lok Sabha. A previous attempt to pass the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill was defeated by a united opposition in April. The bill sought to redraw constituencies based on the 2011 Census – a key flashpoint between the opposition and the BJP. The BJP, meanwhile, has pointed to the Constitution, which states that the freeze on allocation of seats based on the 1971 Census will end after the first Census is conducted after 2026.
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