Chennai, April 8 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Wednesday that the southern states were demanding a fair delimitation, and that the state would not accept any decision taken by the Centre on the matter without its consent.
He cautioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to "turn a calm south into a storm," and posed a series of questions to the PM.
"The Prime Minister must answer these fair and pressing questions raised by the people of the south," Stalin said in a post on 'X' with the headline "Delimitation Danger: Is India sliding into dictatorship?"
The DMK chief sought to know why the Union BJP government was "shrouding the entire delimitation process in secrecy instead of being transparent about how it intends to carry it out."
"In 2001, former Prime Minister Vajpayee deferred delimitation for 25 years in the national interest. What is Prime Minister Modi's answer to the just and reasonable demand of southern states to follow the same path today?" he asked in the post.
He questioned the timing of convening a special session of Parliament in the midst of five state elections, and why the Union government had dismissed the fair and reasoned demand of Opposition leaders to hold the special session only after April 29.
"What are you trying to hide? Forcing through far-reaching constitutional amendments without even convening a consultation with all parties is nothing short of dictatorship," Stalin claimed.
"The DMK will not stand by and watch any attempt that places the rights of southern states at stake while handing greater power to the North. This is the future of the people who live here. Any decision taken without our consent, without even engaging with us, will not be accepted, come what may," he said.
Stalin said the questions raised by the Opposition and the media were not being answered, and sought to know if the Prime Minister would at least answer the questions of the people.