Striking a sarcastic note over the Centre’s delimitation plans, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has urged newlywed couples to plan families immediately so that the state gets an advantage when the delimitation exercise is held.
At the wedding function of a DMK district secretary at Nagapattinam, Stalin said he would earlier ask newlyweds to take their time before they plan a family. “But now with policies such as delimitation that the Union Government is planning to implement, we cannot say that. We focused on family planning and succeeded, and were pushed into a situation such as this. So I would now urge newlyweds to immediately have babies and give them good Tamil names,” he said.
Also read: Ready for another language war, says Stalin as he convenes all-party meet on delimitation
Tacitly asks BJP to attend meet
Stalin has referred to the exercise as a “sword dangling over Tamil Nadu’s head” and claimed that states in Southern India “stand to lose representation” in the Lok Sabha if delimitation is implemented based on population census.
Accusing the Centre of trying to impose Hindi under the pretext of the National Education Policy (NEP), Stalin has already called an all-party meeting to discuss the delimitation issue on March 5. He has also tacitly appealed to the state BJP to not boycott the meeting.
“They are trying to implement delimitation that will reduce the number of Lok Sabha seats to Tamil Nadu. I have convened an all-party meeting on March 5 to discuss our stand on delimitation. Forty parties registered with the Election Commission have been invited. A majority of them have said yes, and a few are skipping it. But they should understand that this is not a problem of DMK, it is a problem for the entire state. So I urge everyone again to stand together for the welfare of this state and its rights,” he said.
On February 25, Stalin said that the successful implementation of family planning policies in Tamil Nadu has pushed the state into a position of disadvantage. “If delimitation is implemented based on population census, Tamil Nadu will lose eight MPs. This will lead to Tamil Nadu losing representation in Parliament,” the chief minister stated.
BJP hits back at Stalin
Meanwhile, the BJP hit back at the chief minister for his remarks, with party spokesperson CR Keshavan said the DMK had resorted to “desperate and dishonest diversionary drama”.
Also read: No Southern state will lose seats: Amit Shah tells Stalin amid delimitation row
“Does the DMK, which is engaging in desperate and dishonest diversionary drama, have the courage to question Rahul Gandhi and seek an explanation on his call for ‘Jitni Abadi, Utna Haq’, means rights proportionate to the population? This call of Rahul Gandhi is in direct contradiction with what DMK is purportedly claiming,” he said.
Keshavan said the DMK was indulging in such a disinformation campaign in a “bid to divert the attention from the gross mismanagement, misrule and misgovernance.”