Stalin, on 7 March, invited his counterparts from seven states to the meeting in Chennai for a united action against the Centre’s delimitation plan.
Published Mar 13, 2025 | 6:40 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 13, 2025 | 6:40 PM
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
Synopsis: MK Stalin invited sevem chief ministers and leaders of major political parties for a meeting on the Centre’s population-based delimitation plan. In a letter to Stalin, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that “considering the importance of this meeting”, he had requested Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to attend the event.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has nominated his deputy, DK Shivakumar, to attend a meeting his Tamil Nadu counterpart, MK Stalin, has convened to discuss the Union government’s planned delimitation based on population.
In a letter to Stalin, Siddaramaiah said the former had raised “very important issues of autonomy of states, which have serious implications on the principals governing our polity. The meeting has been planned for 22 March in Chennai.
The Karnataka chief minister further said the issues of delimitation of the Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies based on new population benchmarks must be discussed at length by like-minded states.
Siddaramaiah said he would have attended the meeting but for prior commitments. “Considering the importance of this meeting to be held on 22.03.2025, I have requested the Deputy Chief Minister, Shri DK Shivakumar, to participate in the deliberations,” he added.
A DMK delegation led by Forest Minister K Ponmudy had called on Siddaramaiah on Wednesday and invited him to the meeting.
Stalin, on 7 March, invited his counterparts from seven states to the meeting in Chennai for a united action against the Centre’s delimitation plan.
The invitees included Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi of the BJP and Andhra Pradesh’s N Chandrababu Naidu of the TDP, a BJP ally.
In an X post, Stalin said he had invited them to the 22 March meeting to form a “Joint Action Committee (JAC) to defend our states from being silenced”.
Chief ministers Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, Bhagwant Mann of Punjab, A Revanth Reddy of Telangana, Siddaramaiah of Karnataka, and Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala, too, have been invited, besides senior representatives of major political parties, including the BJP, in these seven states.
“The Union Govt’s plan for #Delimitation is a blatant assault on federalism, punishing States that ensured population control & good governance by stripping away our rightful voice in Parliament,” Stalin noted on X.
He urged the leaders to “stand together not as separate political entities but as protectors of our people’s future”.
In the invitation letter, Stalin said the essence of India’s democracy rests on its federal character, a system that gives each state its rightful voice while honoring the sacred unity as one nation.
