Mar 01, 2025 07:02 PM IST
Annamalai termed Stalin’s claim that the total number of Lok Sabha seats would be increased to 848 in the favour of northern states as ‘speculations’
Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai said on Saturday that his party will not participate in the March 5 all-party meeting, which was called by chief minister MK Stalin to discuss the potential impact of the delimitation exercise on the southern state.
Annamalai also accused the DMK leader of spreading “imaginary fears” before the exercise’s official commencement. He termed the meeting an occasion to “spread your (Stalin) imaginary fears and deliberately lie about it”.
Also read | Amit Shah allays fears, says no southern state will lose seats
“You must understand that the announcement for the delimitation exercise will be made at an appropriate time by the delimitation commission and it is disheartening to notice that you have still not learnt lessons from the lies you spread when one nation one election was announced and later when those got debunked,” Annamalai was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Also read | ‘Amit Shah’s statement on delimitation is not credible’: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
Annamalai also asked Stalin to make the public aware whether he is privy to any “confidential documents” that provide a basis for his claims. “We kindly request that you make the document public for the benefit of the people of Tamil Nadu,” he added.
The BJP leader claimed that PM Modi countered the opposition INDIA bloc’s campaign slogan to implement rights proportional to the population (Jitne Abadhi Utni Haq) in 2023, as it would hurt the southern states which effectively implemented population control measures.
South pushback gains strength
Echoing Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah’s concerns on delimitation, Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy on Friday questioned the basis of Amit Shah’s assurance that the southern states would not lose a single parliamentary seat.
Also read | Pushback from South on Hindi, delimitation grows
Reddy also warned that the BJP’s intention to secure “permanent power” by increasing the seats in “BIMARU states” will lead to a “severe crisis” in the country, PTI reported.
“Amit Shah ji says there will be no decrease in the existing (number of seats). He is not saying how much the increase will be for southern states. What is your term of reference (for delimitation)? Without saying whether it is on the basis of population or pro rata, how can Amit Shah ji say there will be no decrease,” asked the Congress leader.
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