Stalin Convenes Emergency Meeting of DMK MPs

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin called an emergency meeting of DMK MPs on Wednesday to discuss possible impacts the state may face due to the Centre’s proposed delimitation exercise. Party sources said the emergency meeting will be convened by Stalin via video conferencing from Dharmapuri amid intense election campaign.

Sources added that the meeting will start at 11:00 and the party line to be followed regarding delimitation in the parliament will be clarified.

Prime Minister Stalin on Tuesday warned of mass agitations and “all-out protests” that would bring Tamil Nadu to a standstill if anything was done to harm the state or disproportionately increase the political power of the northern states in the exercise of delimitation. He had said that the nation may have to witness the “DMK of the 1950s and 1960s” again, apparently referring to the party’s initial phase when it led a series of agitations against alleged imposition of states’ rights and Hindi.

DMK was founded in 1949 by Dravidian icon CN Annadurai.

Addressing election rallies in northern Tamil Nadu, Stalin had alleged on April 14 that the draft law on women’s reservations showed that if the restriction was implemented, it was a “conspiracy” that would increase the gap between Tamil Nadu and the northern states.

On Tuesday, after his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy wrote to him on the delimitation issue, Stalin conveyed to him: “Our union is to protect our state rights and secure a just and equitable future for future generations. The South will stand together, speak with one voice and defend the true spirit of federalism.”

Reddy wrote to the CMs of southern states and the UT of Puducherry suggesting a “hybrid model” in which 50 per cent of the proposed additional seats would be allocated on a proportionate basis and the rest would be allocated based on GSDP and other criteria.