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Tamil Nadu CM Vijay holds meeting to discuss delimitation; DMK, AIADMK skip
The DMK and the AIADMK boycotted the meeting, calling it a “farce” and a “drama” while saying they were “not completely against delimitation”.
Chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Saturday chaired a meeting of Tamil Nadu MPs on the Centre’s proposed delimitation and it was boycotted by the DMK and the AIADMK which dubbed the deliberations a “farce” and a “drama”.
Vijay led the discussions on the proposal of the Centre to carry out delimitation and its likely impact on the state.
MPs belonging to ruling TVK’s alliance parties, the Congress, VCK, MDMK and IUML, and friendly parties, the CPI and CPI(M), took part in the meeting. In total, 19 MPs participated.
Eleven Congress MPs, two MPs each from CPI, CPI(M) and the VCK; one MP each from the MDMK and IUML took part.
Also Read I Big blow to CM Vijay's all-party meet on delimitation as 37 of 57 Tamil Nadu MPs opt out
DMK’s alliance parties, MNM and DMDK, which have one RS MP each, did not take part.
AIADMK, which has four MPs in the Upper House and its ally the PMK, which has one MP, also in the RS, did not participate. The DMK has 22 Lok Sabha and 8 Rajya Sabha MPs.
Congress veteran leader P Chidambaram, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan were among the participants.
Marxist party’s Su Venkatesan, MDMK’s Durai Vaiko, the Congress party’s Jothimani were among others who participated.
DMK “not completely against delimitation”
Meanwhile, DMK MP K Kanimozhi questioned the basis of the meeting, saying that her party was not completely against delimitation.
“We are not completely against delimitation. We are asking for a fair delimitation. During the election, DMK President and that time CM MK Stalin had made it clear that protecting Tamil Nadu was more important than electoral victory. More than winning the election, we need to protect the rights of Tamil Nadu. That is our aim and our leader’s aim,” Kanimozhi said in a press conference.
Also Read I After Vijay-led all-party meet, Tamil Nadu leaders vow united front against delimitation
The AIADMK dubbed the meeting a “hurriedly staged drama,” as no new delimitation bill has been introduced in Parliament and also because there is no official announcement regarding it.
Meanwhile, the Congress criticised the DMK and AIADMK for skipping the meeting despite their long history in power in the state, calling it “disappointing”.
(With inputs from agencies)
