Conspiracy to target South for not allowing BJP grow: Revanth Reddy on delimitation

The Telangana CM alleged that the union government led by the BJP is 'conspiring against the southern states' in the name of delimitation.

New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday accused the BJP-led union government of conspiring against southern states through delimitation while insisting that it is aimed at limiting the prospects of the region, as it has not allowed the saffron party's growth there.

Reddy's remark came as he accepted "in-principle" the invitation extended by his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin to attend a meeting of leaders, including Chief Ministers, from states that could be impacted by delimitation of Parliamentary constituencies. Stalin's invitation was handed over to Reddy by a DMK delegation led by senior MP Kanimozhi here.

"Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has sent a delegation to invite me to join the March 22 meeting in Chennai on the delimitation issue. In principle, I have agreed to attend the meeting. I will have to take permission from the party central leadership," he told reporters.

He alleged that the union government led by the BJP is "conspiring against the southern states" in the name of delimitation.

"This is not delimitation but limiting southern states. We will not accept this at any cost. The BJP is doing all this to settle scores with southern states because people in the south have not allowed the BJP to grow. This is vendetta politics," he said.

"We (southern states) are paying more tax than north India. We are more entrepreneurial. We contribute everything for the country," he said.

Reddy said the BJP is defeated across south India and they do not have any substantial presence in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. "Even in Karnataka, they were defeated," he said.

Earlier this month, Stalin wrote to various Chief Ministers, including West Bengal, Odisha and Punjab, inviting them for a meeting in Chennai to form a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to tackle delimitation.