'Defer delimitation exercise indefinitely,' Vijay tells union government

Chennai: Demanding that the number of Lok Sabha seats be indefinitely frozen at 543 based on the 1971 Census figures, Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) President and actor Vijay on Wednesday said any reduction in the political representation of Tamil Nadu other South Indian states solely on the basis of population will only be regarded as a “punishment.”

In a five-page statement hours before Chief Minister M K Stalin chaired an all-party meeting on the issue, Vijay said it won’t be acceptable if the seats for South Indian states witness a reduction, while states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar get additional seats.

“It will be nothing but a punishment for Tamil Nadu and other South Indian states who have invested huge amounts in education and population control measures for the past 50 years. Already, one state has 80 Lok Sabha members making it politically significant than other states. Such differences shouldn’t be widened,” Vijay said.

Vijay, whose party will be represented by general secretary N Anand at the all-party meeting, strongly opposed any move to make population as the sole criteria or the main criteria to carry out delimitation exercise. He also said the fact that the union government has made seating facilities for 888 members in the new Parliament building shows that it was for increasing the number of seats in Lok Sabha.

Contending that “shortage of MPs” is not a problem being faced by an ordinary citizen and that it is a “democratic issue in principle and not a principal democratic issue”, Vijay stressed the need to discuss issues affecting the people in Parliament.

“We should amend our Constitution to freeze the number of Parliament seats at 543 which was arrived at on the basis of the 1971 population census indefinitely. Delimitation hasn’t been carried out for the past 50 years on the principles of equal population representation from each MP. Even if the freeze continues, nothing is going to happen,” he added.

He also said not all 543 MPs get time in the current Parliament to ask questions to drive home his point that it was not necessary to increase the number of seats in Lok Sabha.

Vijay also said the government should appoint Election Commissioners after arriving at a consensus to ensure free and fair elections in India and bring in transparency in the way the Centre agrees to the recommendations made by the Supreme Court collegium on appointment of judges. “How can we trust the ECs who are chosen unilaterally by the Centre since the Chief Election Commissioner will be part of the Delimitation Commission,” the actor-politician asked.

Pointing out that it was a “conscious decision” to adopt a federal Constitution with an unitary bias in 1950 due to conditions that prevailed then, Vijay said India has evolved into a mature and stable democracy in the last 75 years and the “elders” (Centre) should grant freedom to “youngsters” (States) to ensure that the family is united.

He also pushed for an equitable devolution of funds by the Union Government to states and demanded reforms in Rajya Sabha.

In a dig at the BJP, which he has identified as his ideological enemy, Vijay said the issue will serve as an indicator to decide who stands with the people of Tamil Nadu and who doesn’t. Except BJP and its ally TMC, all other political parties have opposed Delimitation and are participating in the all-party meeting.