Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has alleged that Members of Parliament are not being allotted sufficient time to raise issues affecting their constituencies and states, and said Parliament is being reduced to a “mere formality” instead of a forum for debate and accountability.
In a statement, Stalin accused the Narendra Modi-led NDA government of deliberately undermining the basic functioning of Parliament. He said the House should enable discussion and require those in charge to respond, but is increasingly restricting MPs from speaking on public concerns.
Stalin also criticised the proposal to increase the number of constituencies under the name of delimitation, calling it contrary to the government’s own slogan of “minimum government, maximum governance”. He argued that such a move would raise costs, waste taxpayers’ money and lower the quality of parliamentary functioning.
Calling the approach a violation of India’s federal character, Stalin said proceeding without proper consultation and ignoring states’ voices was anti-democratic. He warned that the exercise would strengthen BJP-dominated northern states while squeezing the voice of southern states, citing concerns raised by chief ministers Siddaramaiah, Pinarayi Vijayan and Revanth Reddy.
Stalin reiterated support for 33% reservation for women, but said it should be implemented without increasing seats in a way that “punishes” states that have effectively controlled population. He also questioned the lack of clarity on the basis for delimitation—whether it would rely on the 2021 census or the 1971 population figures—and criticised the Centre for not offering guarantees for representation of OBC women.
