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Anybody who backs delimitation is betraying Tamil Nadu, says Rahul Gandhi
He urged all parties in the state to oppose the proposal, alleging it would weaken Tamil Nadu’s voice in national politics.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that the BJP-led Centre’s proposed delimitation exercise was aimed at reducing Tamil Nadu’s political influence and urged all parties to oppose it in Parliament.
Speaking to reporters at Mamallapuram near Chennai after attending the concluding session of a 10-day training camp for District Congress Committee presidents, he described the move as a “conspiracy” against Tamil Nadu. “It is a very important issue for the future of the Tamil people, the Tamil language and the state of Tamil Nadu. BJP is attempting to carry out delimitation, which is designed to disenfranchise and take away power from the Tamil people. This is a BJP conspiracy,” Gandhi said.
He urged all parties in the state to oppose the proposal, alleging it would weaken Tamil Nadu’s voice in national politics.
“Anybody who supports delimitation is betraying Tamil Nadu and is allowing RSS and the BJP to attack the people of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
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“No Tamil person should support delimitation. Every single Tamil party, national party should defeat delimitation (bill) in Parliament,” Gandhi added.
Drawing a parallel with Ettappan, the 18th-century Tamil ruler of Ettayapuram who is widely remembered in Tamil history for allegedly aiding the British against freedom fighter Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Gandhi said, “Anybody who supports delimitation is a 21st-century Ettappan.”
Earlier in the day, Gandhi met families of students who allegedly died by suicide over issues related to NEET and asserted that students are told to work honestly in a system that is not honest with them.
After the interaction, he said on X, “Nothing is more painful than seeing a parent grieve for their child. Behind every young life lost is a family carrying pain that will never leave them — and serious questions about a broken education system.”
Targeting PM Narendra Modi, he said, “He has not met a single grieving parent. He has not sat with a single student whose future was stolen by a leaked paper. India’s students do not need his forgiveness. They are owed his apology.”
Responding to Gandhi’s remarks on delimitation, state BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy accused him of making irresponsible statements.
“Here is a person who is so irresponsible, trying to create unrest in the country, supporting anarchists and wanting to divide the nation as the Congress did during Partition,” he said.
