Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 22 :Even as the first Joint Committee meeting on delimitation called by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin got underway, Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai led a black flag protest outside the meeting venue. The BJP was protesting the stand taken by Karnataka on the Mekkadatu dam issue and the Kerala Governments stand on the Mullaperiyar dam and demanded that CM Stalin take up these issues first.
Annamalai also pointed out that despite the pressing issues in Tamil Nadu, the CM had never visited Kerala to discuss matters with the neighboring state. Instead, Stalin had invited Kerala's Chief Minister to discuss an "artificial issue" related to delimitation.
"TN CM has never gone to Kerala to speak with them and solve the issues, but today, he has invited the Kerala CM to talk about an artificial issue which he has created," Annamalai remarked.
He went on to condemn Stalin saying, "Our condemnation is for the Tamil Nadu Chief Mnister for inviting the Kerala CM and not solving Tamil Nadu's problems."
The BJP leader further claimed that the political moves of DK Shivakumar, Karnataka's Deputy CM, were also contributing to the situation.
"DK Shivakumar is plotting his move against Siddaramaiah. That is the reason for him to come running to Tamil Nadu to show that he is a Pan-India leader and Siddaramaiah is a regional leader," Annamalai said.
Annamalai also sharply criticized Stalin's approach and decisions, particularly his invitation to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan.
"In the last four years after DMK came to power, Tamil Nadu's interests have continuously been sacrificed for political gain," Annamalai said. He expressed concern that Stalin had prioritized political maneuvering over addressing the genuine concerns of the state.
Speaking to ANI, Annamalai also referenced statements made by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister on the population-based delimitation.
"The PM has said that population is not the criteria and HM said that it is going to be on a pro-rata basis," he noted. He accused the DMK government of creating confusion over the issue and called it a manufactured problem. "They (DMK) are creating all of this nonsense artificially," he concluded.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, while leading the Joint Action Committee meeting, called on all 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 first meeting called in Chennai on Saturday, Stalin also proposed to form a legal expert committee on the delimitation issue, while stressing the need for a "fair delimitation".
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, Odisha Congress President Bhakta Charan Das, and Biju Janata Dal leader Sanjay Kumar Das Burma, among others
Urging leaders to take the issue of delimitation to a legal platform, Stalin said, "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."
He added, "Let's unitedly protest and make sure our representation should not get decreased in any situation. Let us all be united and protest till we get fair delimitation."
Stalin expressed strong opposition to the population-based constituency delimitation, alleging that it would disproportionately affect states like Tamil Nadu, which have taken significant steps to control population growth.
"As per constituency delimitation on a population basis, our states will get affected since we have taken action to control population, that's why we are in a situation to oppose it, and we may get decrease our representatives in parliament," Stalin said.
He further explained that the loss of parliamentary representation could lead to a reduction in political strength.
"States here have shown the result of decreasing population. By decreasing the people's representatives in parliament, our strength to express our views will decrease," Stalin said.
"For the last two years Manipur state is burning. Manipur people's voice for seeking justice is rejected because they don't have political strength to attract the nation's attention," he added.
The Tamil Nadu CM further stressed that the issue is not just about numbers but also about rights and power.
"Decreasing representatives in parliament should be seen as decreasing our political strength. This not only on numbers but it's about our rights, power and about our future," he explained.
He pointed out that fewer representatives would affect various sectors, including women's empowerment, students' opportunities, and farmers' support.
"Women will get set back to get power. Students will lose many important opportunities. Farmers will get set back without support. Our culture and growth will face danger," he said.
He also warned that marginalized communities, particularly SC and ST populations, would be disproportionately affected by the reduction in representation. "Social justice which we safe guarded for many years will get affected, particularly SC and ST people will get affected," Stalin noted.
Stalin concluded by reiterating that the opposition was not against the concept of delimitation but was aimed at ensuring that the process remains fair and does not undermine political representation.
"This protest is not against delimitation but to urge for fair Delimitation," he said.