First JAC meeting on delimitation a 'good beginning' to protect federalism: DK Shivakumar

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 22 (ANI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has termed the first Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting on delimitation as "a good beginning" to protect "the federal structure and the constitution of this country."
The meeting, hosted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, was held here on Saturday.
"Delimitation meeting went very well. It is a good beginning, and we'll all join together to save the federal structure and the constitution of this country," Shivakumar said while speaking to reporters after the meeting.
He said that the very foundation of democracy and federalism was under threat.
"The very foundation of democracy and federalism is under threat. So, a good beginning has been made, and a fair delimitation Joint Action Committee (JAC) has been formed today. CMs for Kerala, Punjab and Telangana have also participated in the meeting... On behalf of the Congress party I represented here," he said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said that the next meeting of the JAC will be held in Hyderabad, Telangana. In the first JAC meeting, Stalin proposed to form a legal expert committee on the delimitation issue while stressing the need for a "fair delimitation.
Urging leaders to take the issue of delimitation to a legal platform, Stalin said, "I appeal to you all to give inputs to take this political thing in a legal way. I propose to form a legal expert committee on this constituency delimitation issue. If we all united protest, only can get us victory."
He added, "Let's unitedly protest and make sure our representation should not get decreased in any situation. Let us all be united and protest till we get fair delimitation."
Stalin expressed strong opposition to the population-based constituency delimitation, alleging that it would disproportionately affect states like Tamil Nadu, which have taken significant steps to control population growth.
"As per constituency delimitation on a population basis, our states will get affected since we have taken action to control population, that's why we are in a situation to oppose it, and we may get decrease our representatives in parliament," Stalin said.
He further explained that the loss of parliamentary representation could lead to a reduction in political strength.
"States here have shown the result of decreasing population. By decreasing the people's representatives in parliament, our strength to express our views will decrease," Stalin said.
The meeting was attended by various political leaders, including Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Odisha Congress President Bhakta Charan Das, and Biju Janata Dal leader Sanjay Kumar Das Burma, among others. (ANI)