"Diversionary tactic, opportunism politics": BJP's CR Kesavan attacks DMK, Congress ahead of JAC meet

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 22 (ANI): BJP leader CR Kesavan has accused the ruling DMK government of using the issue of delimitation as a diversionary tactic to shift focus from its alleged failures and corruption in Tamil Nadu and criticised the Congress party for adopting contradictory positions on the matter.
Ahead of the meeting on delimitation called by Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, BJP leader CR Kesavan said, "DMK staging this delimitation drama is a diversionary tactic to deflect public attention from DMK's corrupt, failed, disastrous misrule. DMK's divisive politics of fear-mongering, attempting to mislead and misinform the public, will badly boomerang on the party itself."
Targeting the Congress, he alleged that Rahul Gandhi and his party were engaging in "pathetic politics of opportunism."
He pointed out the contradiction between the Congress' stance on delimitation and Gandhi's slogan "jitni abadi, utna haath," which advocates rights based on population.
"Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party, with their mutually conflicting and contradicting stance, are indulging in a pathetic politics of opportunism, which is utterly condemnable. Like a chameleon changes its colours, the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi have differing and conflicting stands on the delimitation," said Kesavan.
Adding further he said, "The core agenda of the meeting today of the joint action committee is that they oppose delimitation based on population. Rahul Gandhi, however, directly contradicts it when he gives his clarion call on "jitni abadi, utna haath," which means rights proportionate to the population. Rahul Gandhi vouches that rights should be proportional to population. This contradiction and hypocrisy is now very clearly seen by the country."
He also accused the DMK of using issues like the National Education Policy (NEP) and delimitation as distractions from its governance failures over the past four years.
"DMK should call Rahul Gandhi's bluff and break their alliance with the Congress party, but they won't do that because they are also complete political opportunists. The DMK's drama with the NEP delimitation is a way of distracting attention from their failure in the state in the past four years," he stated.
Meanwhile, 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.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar arrived in Chennai on Saturday to attend the first meeting on delimitation on behalf of the Karnataka government.
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.
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin said that fair delimitation is crucial, not just for the number of MPs, but for the state's rights.
"Fair delimitation is the talk of the town right now. Why has the DMK brought this to focus? Because in 2026, delimitation will happen. And if the delimitation exercise is carried out based on population, our representation in Parliament will be severely affected. This is not just about the number of MPs but about our State's rights. This is why we have convened a meeting of all parties. Except for the BJP, every other party stood together as one," Stalin said in a video posted on X.
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 the BJP. (ANI)