Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay urged the Union government to implement the 33% reservation for women without further delay, saying the benefit must reach women in the coming Lok Sabha election and subsequent Assembly elections.
Speaking in the Tamil Nadu Assembly during the Budget session, Vijay moved a special resolution linked to constituency delimitation and women’s representation. He said he was speaking “from the heart” about the women in families—grandmothers, mothers, sisters—and credited them as a major reason for his own journey.
Vijay noted that women in Tamil Nadu have played a significant role from freedom struggles to movements for social justice, and continue to contribute across fields such as education, law and technology. He stressed that women’s reservation is not a “concession” but a matter of equal rights.
Citing representation figures, he said there were 12 women MLAs in the 2021 Assembly and 23 in the 2026 Assembly, adding that the increase is not substantial in percentage terms. He appealed for all-party support, calling the resolution not a party move but one aimed at safeguarding Tamil Nadu’s rights.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami said there was nothing wrong with redrawing constituencies with higher voter populations for administrative convenience, and opposed the state government’s resolution on political grounds. However, he said AIADMK would support the specific point in the resolution that seeks to ensure one-third of seats are reserved for women in the upcoming Lok Sabha election and later Assembly elections.
