Chennai, March 25 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has urged the Centre to convene a special session of Parliament in June to enact constitutional amendments for delimitation, increasing the number of seats, and guaranteeing that the current representation of states would continue for the next 30 years.
Citing news reports indicating that women's representation in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies is being considered based on the 2011 Census, Stalin said, "This step is not in line with the 2023 Union BJP government's Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, and its earlier position to only take up this historic initiative after delimitation is carried out based on the 2026 Census."
In a social media post, he said, "This (initiative by the Centre) is most likely aimed at securing electoral gains in the upcoming Assembly elections in four major states."
Pushing such an important step while the Model Code of Conduct is already in force is "unprecedented," he said.
As the President of the DMK and the proud inheritor of the Dravidian legacy that has spearheaded women's empowerment for over a century, he said, "I fully support this initiative of Women's Reservation without any preconditions, while also stressing our right to fair delimitation."
"It is our consistent stand that the current proportional representation of states should not be disturbed under any circumstances. To achieve this, the delimitation and distribution of constituencies among states must include a constitutional provision ensuring the same for the next 30 years," he emphasized.
He requested that, with the MCC and the preoccupation of political parties, a special session of Parliament be convened in early June to enact these constitutional amendments for delimitation, increasing the number of seats, ensuring the continuation of the current representation of states, and guaranteeing that such representation would continue for the next 30 years.
