Revanth Reddy said that the Telangana government will invite BJP leaders to an all-party meeting which will be held shortly.
Published Mar 13, 2025 | 2:14 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 13, 2025 | 2:14 PM
DMK leaders invited Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to attend the JAC meeting. (X)
Synopsis: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has consented to attend the Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu government opposing the upcoming delimitation. Revanth Reddy said that MK Stalin was doing exceedingly well in bringing all southern states under one umbrella to fight against the threat of delimitation.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has in principle consented to attend the Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu government on 22 March to formulate a plan to oppose the upcoming delimitation based on the 2026 Census.
A delegation of the DMK, led by Minister KN Nehru, called on Revanth Reddy on Thursday, 13 March, and invited him to attend the meeting.
The JAC meeting will discuss how the interests of the southern states would be affected if the BJP decided to go ahead with its proposal of delimitation of Parliament and Assembly constituencies ahead of the next general elections in 2029.
The delegation, comprised DMK MPs A Raja, K Kanimozhi and others, invited the Telangana chief minister on behalf of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin.
After meeting the DMK leaders, Revanth Reddy told reporters that he will attend the meeting after obtaining permission from the party high command.
“We will thoroughly discuss the proposal of delimitation and BJP’s ulterior motives. It is a grand conspiracy against the southern states, and we will thwart it at all costs,” he said.
The chief minister said that the BJP was trying to settle scores as the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana did not allow the BJP to grow, and Karnataka defeated the saffron party in the last election.
The BJP is nursing a grudge against the southern states and now wants to thrust delimitation based on population on them to benefit politically, he said.
Revanth Reddy said an action plan will be made to foil the Union government’s delimitation move after a thorough discussion of the issue in the 22 March meeting.
“If the delimitation proposal is allowed to be implemented, it would be a great injustice to the people of the South. In fact, it is the South that is making the largest contribution to the nation’s economy. We are paying more taxes, and we have better entrepreneurs. Despite all this, the Centre proposes to proceed with delimitation using population as the criterion. This is not just delimitation; it is a limitation imposed on the South,” the chief minister said.
Revanth Reddy said that Stalin was doing exceedingly well in bringing all southern states under one umbrella to fight against the threat of delimitation.
“We will definitely strengthen his hands,” he said to a question from a reporter on whether he would take the lead to bring pressure on the Centre to do away with the proposal. He further said: “We will foil all the insidious attempts of the Centre to harm the South.”
To another question, he said that the Congress in the state would also elicit the opinion of all parties on the delimitation exercise that the BJP wants to embark on.
“Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and senior leader K Jana Reddy have written to all parties, requesting them to join hands in defeating the Centre’s move for delimitation on the basis of population,” he said.
He said that the 22 March conclave at Chennai will take into consideration the opinions of all parties and the civil society.
“I want the BJP leaders of the South also to take part in the conference. In Telangana, we are inviting state BJP leaders to an all-party meeting which will be held shortly. I want Union Minister G Kishan Reddy to attend the meeting and understand how the odds are stacking up against the South. I want him to attend the meeting as he, as a minister representing the southern state of Telangana, should raise his voice in the Central Cabinet meeting against the delimitation proposal,” the chief minister said.
Ahead of the JAC meeting, leaders of the DMK in Tamil Nadu are actively inviting representatives from other parties and heads of non-BJP ruled states.
On Wednesday, DMK leaders met Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah, YSRCP chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and TDP Andhra Pradesh President Palla Srinivasa Rao to invite them to the meeting.
On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Industries Minister Dr TRB Rajaa and MP Dayanidhi Maran met former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and Odisha Congress President Bhakta Charan Das on behalf of Chief Minister Stalin.
In the DMK Parliamentary Members Meeting held on 9 March, Stalin had said that the party’s coalition allies decided to work together to mobilise political parties from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, and Punjab.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
