Chennai, April 11 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticised the Centre over the women's reservation and accused it of trying to use it as a "weapon" to tackle the opposition before undertaking the delimitation exercise based on population.
"The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it immediately. Instead, the BJP-led Centre is considering using it as a weapon to deal with the opposition and undertake the delimitation exercise based on population," he told
"Therefore, the women's reservation must be implemented immediately without using delimitation as a reason," the DMK president added.
The Union Cabinet recently cleared the draft bill for amendments to the law, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, more commonly known as the Women's Reservation Act, which will ensure an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 with 273 reserved for women, and its implementation in the 2029 general elections.
The government has extended the budget session of Parliament, and a special three-day sitting will be held from April 16 to 18, where the amendment bill is expected to be passed.
Expressing apprehensions on the proposed delimitation exercise, the CM said that it was the DMK that raised the first voice asserting the rights of the state after realizing that Tamil Nadu would be affected by the proposed exercise. He also attacked his rival and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami over the delimitation issue.
Recalling efforts made by the DMK to raise the issue of population-based delimitation, he said that an all-party meeting and a meeting of CMs under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee seeking fair delimitation were convened. It sought to freeze delimitation for 25 years and stick to it based on the 1971 Census population.
"We urged the union government that states which successfully implemented population control programmes must not be punished," he added.
The party came up with "Tamil Nadu poradum, Tamil Nadu vellum" (Tamil Nadu will struggle, Tamil Nadu will win) and this is DMK's stand, he said.
"However, Palaniswami, who is seeking votes for the entry of the BJP through the backdoor, has till date been mute over delimitation, and this is a betrayal of the people of Tamil Nadu,"
