Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 22 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday expressed his strong displeasure with the delimitation and said that they will not let their seats in the Parliament be reduced at any cost.
Shivakumar further congratulated Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin for taking this step. Expressing pride, Shivakumar stated that Stalin is protecting the federal structure and the Constitution of this country.
"I would like to congratulate MK Stalin. He has taken the first step. We are very proud that he is protecting the federal structure and the Constitution of this country. Coming together is the beginning. Today, all of us will discuss what the progress will be, and work together... Leaders from Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, we all have joined here... At any cost, we cannot let down our country and our seats be reduced... We are a very progressive state. We have stood fast economically and in literacy... We will stand united, and we will make sure none of our seats are reduced... I welcome all the BJP black flags. I am not afraid even if they send me to Tihar jail..." Shivakumar told ANI.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar arrived in Chennai on Saturday to attend the first meeting on delimitation on behalf of the Karnataka government.
Leaders from several opposition parties have started arriving in Chennai to attend the 1st Joint Action Committee Meeting on the issue of delimitation, as the MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government aims to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre over the issue citing an attack on federalism.
The meeting of Chief Ministers and leaders of various states to discuss the issue of delimitation has been called by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in Chennai today.
Visuals from near the meeting spot showed that posters and banners had been put up in the area about the meeting.
Leaders from Telangana have already arrived in Chennai to attend the meeting. Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao reached Chennai on Friday night to attend the meeting.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has also reached Chennai to participate in the first meet of the Joint Action Committee.
The arrival list also has Odisha Congress President Bhakta Charan Das and Biju Janata Dal leader Sanjay Kumar Das Burma.
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin has called for a joint effort from various political parties to raise their voices against delimitation, calling for a Joint Action Committee meeting to be held in Chennai, inviting representatives from various political parties to join against the "blatant assault on federalism."
Chief Minister Stalin had written 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."
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.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin had called an all-party meeting to discuss the proposed delimitation's impact on the state, which was boycotted by BJP.