Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 22 : As the first Joint Action Committee Meeting on the issue of delimitation is underway in Chennai, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Priyanka Chaturvedi said that she hoped to see the participation of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu as it is going to impact his state too.
Speaking with ANI, Chaturvedi said, "The entire delimitation issue majorly impacts South Indian states. What DMK is talking about is a fair delimitation process where South Indian states do not face any discrimination or their voices are weakened in any manner. I would have hoped to see even Chandrababu Naidu participating in it because it is going to impact Andhra Pradesh too."
Chaturvedi further said that she does not see "any politics" over the opposition of delimitation but a "concern" over the representation in Parliament on the basis of population.
"I do not see any politics in it but a sense of concern regarding how some states have done well on population and how the census cannot be the sole method to decide the representation in Parliament," Chaturvedi said.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu CM Stalin has called on the Opposition parties to be united in the protest against the delimitation exercise, which he claimed will weaken the political might of the southern states.
During the meeting, Stalin also proposed to form a legal expert committee on the delimitation issue, while stressing the need for a "fair delimitation".
"I appeal to you all to give inputs to take this political thing in a legal way. I propose to form a legal expert committee on this constituency delimitation issue. If we all unitedly protest, only can get us victory," Stalin said.
The meeting was attended by various political leaders, including Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Odisha Congress President Bhakta Charan Das, and Biju Janata Dal leader Sanjay Kumar Das Burma, among others
The MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government has locked horns with the Central government over the three-language formula proposed in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the delimitation exercise.