AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami criticized Chief Minister M K Stalin over the recent meeting on delimitation convened by the ruling DMK, calling it a "drama" orchestrated by Stalin to distract from pressing issues such as widespread corruption and the worsening law and order situation in Tamil Nadu.
Palaniswami alleged that the people were upset due to issues like increased property tax, water tax, power tariff hikes, and other grievances that have surfaced over the four years of DMK rule. "Law and order has collapsed, inflation is skyrocketing, power tariffs have been raised, and property tax and water tax have been increased. The revision of property guideline values has severely impacted the people. To divert attention from these major issues, the CM staged this drama," he said during a press interaction in Salem.
Palaniswami also claimed that the discussions about parliamentary delimitation should have taken place in Parliament, not through a meeting orchestrated by the Chief Minister. He further alleged that the DMK was attempting to deflect from the rampant corruption and lawlessness that the state was experiencing.
AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan echoed similar sentiments, referring to the Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting led by Stalin and attended by other state CMs, including Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala and A Revanth Reddy of Telangana, as a "staged drama." Sathyan pointed out that while Stalin's invitation letter indicated no opposition to delimitation, it simultaneously suggested that the exercise would lead to a reduction in Tamil Nadu's number of MPs, which seemed contradictory to Stalin's other public statements against the delimitation process.
Palaniswami further criticized Stalin's inconsistency, saying that the DMK was presenting one narrative within Tamil Nadu, where it argued that the delimitation exercise itself was wrong, while at the same time trying to project a different message externally. "Which version is true?" he questioned, accusing Stalin of trying to create confusion. He added that AIADMK proposed that Tamil Nadu’s current 7.18 percent share of MPs should remain unchanged, which the DMK had intentionally omitted from their resolution passed during a prior all-party meeting.
Palaniswami accused the DMK of using the delimitation issue as a tactic to divert attention from the government's failures, which were deeply rooted in corruption. He claimed that the state’s law and order had deteriorated, further accusing the DMK of using the delimitation exercise as a "big drama" to cover up their incompetence.
Stalin, for his part, has repeatedly argued that the delimitation based on population would result in fewer Lok Sabha seats for South Indian states. At the Saturday meeting, he and other leaders urged the central government to extend the freeze on Parliamentary constituencies, based on the 1971 Census, for another 25 years. However, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier asserted that the pro-rata delimitation would not affect South Indian states.
(With inputs from PTI)