MK Stalin calls first meeting of Joint Action Committee on Delimitation on March 22

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 7 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin called for a joint effort from various political parties to raise their voices against Delimitation, calling for a Joint Action Committee meeting on March 22 to be held in Chennai, inviting representatives from various political parties to join against the "blatant assault on federalism."
"First JAC meeting in Chennai on March 22, 2025. Let us stand together not as separate political entities but as protectors of our people's future," MK Stalin wrote in a post on X.
Earlier today, the CM Stalin also wrote to the CM's of 7 states, both from NDA ruling states and otherwise, to join him for the "fight against this unfair exercise." He has written to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi, and heads of all political parties in those respective states to join him.
Calling upon state units of national parties and regional parties to send a senior representatives for the JAC, he tagged the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Telegu Desam Party, Jana Sena Party, AITC, Janata Dal, Aam Aadmi Party, Akali Dali, Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI, AIMIM and multiple other state units for the meeting.
"We are forming a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to defend our States from being silenced. I call upon @CPIM_Kerala, @BJP4Keralam, @cpimspeak, @cpi_national, @INCKerala, @iumlKeralaState, Kerala Congress, Kerala Congress (M), Revolutionary Socialist Party, @JaiTDP, @JanaSenaParty, @YSRCParty, @BJP4Andhra, @INCTelangana, @BRSparty, @aimim_national, @BJP4Karnataka, @INCKarnataka, @JanataDal_S, @AITCofficial, @BJP4Bengal, @CPIM_WESTBENGAL, @INCWestBengal, @BJP4Odisha, @bjd_odisha, @INCOdisha, @AAPPunjab, @INCPunjab, @Akali_Dal_to send a senior representative," read the Tamil Nadu CM's post.
Meanwhile, earlier today, Congress backed CM Stalin's stance on delimitation, however the party has not yet confirmed if they will be joining the JAC meet on March 22.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh opposed any move to penalize states that have successfully implemented family planning measures, in the context of delimitation and language policy and underscored the importance of linguistic diversity saying that any form of 'linguistic imperialism' is unacceptable.
Ramesh emphasised that states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which were pioneers in achieving population stabilisation, should not be disadvantaged in terms of parliamentary seat allocation.
CM Stalin had pointed in his letter to other CM's that, the previous delimitation exercises were conducted in 1952, 1963, and 1973, but were frozen by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 until the first census after 2000.
The freeze was extended in 2002 until the census after 2026. However, with the 2021 Census delayed, the delimitation process might happen earlier than expected, potentially affecting states that have controlled their population and achieved better governance.
The Chief Minister stated that if the exercise is based on population after 2026, states with better population control would face a reduction in parliamentary representation, which he called unjust. He also stated that the Union Government has not provided clarity on the matter, only offering vague assurances. (ANI)