AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has alleged that Tamil Nadu has missed a major opportunity to gain additional Lok Sabha seats, blaming Chief Minister M K Stalin’s opposition to a women’s reservation bill.
In his statement, Palaniswami claimed the Chief Minister opposed the proposal “without understanding its essence”, and said the state lost what he described as a “golden opportunity” offered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Referring to constituency delimitation, Palaniswami said that if the 2011 Census had been used for redrawing seats, Tamil Nadu would have lost nine Lok Sabha constituencies. He further claimed that delimitation based on the 2026 Census could lead to an even bigger reduction in the state’s representation.
Palaniswami also recalled that in 1998, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister, then ally J Jayalalithaa brought a women’s reservation bill, but it was not allowed to pass due to opposition from the DMK and Congress. He alleged that Stalin has again blocked women’s reservation, calling it an injustice to women.
The remarks were made as part of Palaniswami’s political criticism of the DMK government.
