Now Reading: DMK wants 25-year seat freeze, skips Vijay’s delimitation meet
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DMK wants 25-year seat freeze, skips Vijay’s delimitation meet
Only 21 of Tamil Nadu's 57 MPs attended Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's all-party meeting on delimitation on Saturday, with the DMK and AIADMK staying away. The meeting passed a resolution opposing…
The Story in Brief
Only 21 of Tamil Nadu's 57 MPs attended Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's all-party meeting on delimitation on Saturday, with the DMK and AIADMK staying away. The meeting passed a resolution opposing any change to the state's 39 Lok Sabha seats. Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said MPs want the House frozen at 543 seats.
The DMK, which had previously burnt copies of the Delimitation Bill, is now privately signalling conditional support. The Federal reports the party will back the bill if the population-based seat freeze, pegged to the 1971 Census, is extended by 25 years. Alternatively, it wants a flat 50% increase in seats for all states. The DMK boycotted the meet saying the TVK had not clarified its own stand on delimitation.
The Indian Opinion
The DMK and TVK are locked in a duel of convenience. The DMK burned the bill three months ago, now whispers conditions. The TVK calls a meet with no agenda, then brands the boycott a betrayal. Neither side is being straight. The real test is simple: if the Centre brings a bill without a 25-year freeze, will the DMK vote against it as loudly as it did in April? That answer will reveal whether this is principle or posture.
Sources (5): thefederal.com, ndtv.com, hindustantimes.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com, timesnownews.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 5 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 5 sources.
