Hyderabad: A crucial meeting convened by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to discuss concerns regarding the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies began on Saturday, March 22, in Chennai.
The meeting, chaired by Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, saw the participation of several chief ministers and opposition leaders from various states, including Telangana’s chief minister A Revanth Reddy, TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR).
Chief Ministers Bhagwant Mann of Punjab and Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala, along with Shiromani Akali Dal president Balvinder Singh and Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, were also present at the conference.
The leaders have been vocal about their concerns that the BJP-led central government is “conspiring to unfairly disadvantage southern states in the delimitation process.”
There are apprehensions that if delimitation is based on population, northern states may see a significant increase in the number of constituencies, while southern states could face a reduction.
The leaders are advocating for a scientific approach to delimitation that does not harm any region until a fair method is found.
They plan to pressure the central government to postpone the delimitation process until a satisfactory solution is identified.
During the meeting, strategies to address these issues will be discussed and decisions are expected to be made.
In response to this gathering, BJP leaders criticized the meeting, alleging that it was merely an attempt by opposition leaders to cover up their corruption.
Tamil Nadu BJP leader and former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan questioned why such united opposition meetings were not held on critical issues like Cauvery water disputes and other significant matters.
