Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has strongly opposed any move to undertake constituency redelineation without consulting the states, saying his government would not agree to such a decision “even if it costs us our lives”.
In a statement, Stalin asked what response the Centre has to the “reasonable demand” raised by southern states that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should, like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee did in 2001, defer delimitation for the next 25 years.
He also questioned the need to convene a special session of Parliament in haste between elections in five states, and sought clarity on why opposition leaders’ suggestion to hold the session after April 29 was ignored.
Stalin alleged that attempting major constitutional amendments without convening an all-party meeting and holding consultations reflects an authoritarian approach. He said the delimitation issue raises concerns about whether India is moving towards authoritarianism, and urged that the “calm South” should not be turned into a storm.
