During a key meeting held in Chennai today, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin-headed Joint Action Committee (JAC) adopted a resolution strongly opposing any delimitation exercise which is not transparent and does not include key stakeholders.
The representatives of all the concerned states with regard to the impact of the upcoming delimitation on their political and economic prospects attended the meeting. The resolution emphasized that any change of parliamentary constituencies should arise from a fair and transparent process with the inputs of state governments, political parties, and other concerned stakeholders.
There was a concern that well-performing states that have succeeded in implementing population control could be unfairly penalized if their parliamentary representation is diminished due to shifting population ratios.
The JAC emphasized the legislative grounds for earlier constitutional modifications when it said that the freeze of parliamentary constituencies on the basis of the 1971 Census was to protect and encourage states that had made advancement towards stabilizing growth of the population. With the national target of population stabilisation still out of reach, the resolution called for this freeze to be extended by another 25 years.
“States which have successfully implemented population control programmes and whose population ratio has correspondingly declined should not be penalized,” the resolution stated.
In order to synchronize moves in Parliament, a Core Committee of Members of Parliament belonging to the concerned states will draw out strategies to oppose any delimitation proposals not in accordance with these principles. As part of their action plan, the committee intends to make a joint representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the current session of Parliament. The political parties of the states represented shall also urge legislative judgments in their state legislatures, submitting their positions formally to the Union Government.
The JAC also committed to launching a gigantic public awareness movement to inform people about the history of delimitation and its potential implications emerging therefrom. With such an organized effort, the JAC wishes to get public opinion aligned behind a fair and equitable methodology.
By this decision, the JAC reaffirms that any exercise in delimitation must adhere to the norms of federalism and democracy. DMK Parliamentary Party leader Kanimozhi, reading out the draft proposal, reaffirmed that any delimitation exercise by the Union government must aim at enhancing the quality of democracy through processes that are transparent to facilitate the involvement of political parties, state governments, and all stakeholders concerned.
The conference also saw opposition leaders of southern states and leaders of Punjab uniting to raise their concerns regarding the proposed delimitation exercise. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar were some of the guests. Senior political party leaders like YSRCP, Congress, CPI(M), CPI, BJD, and AAP also attended the conference.
