Rahul Gandhi warns delimitation could weaken Tamil Nadu’s political voice

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday urged regional and national parties to unite against the Centre’s proposed delimitation exercise, alleging that it could weaken Tamil Nadu’s representation and political influence.

Speaking to reporters at Mamallapuram near Chennai, Gandhi accused the BJP of seeking to use delimitation to reduce the state’s voice in Parliament. He called upon parties in Tamil Nadu and across the country to oppose any legislation that could adversely affect its representation.

“Every single Tamil party and every national party should defeat the delimitation bill in Parliament,” Gandhi said, stressing the need for a united political response.

He alleged that the exercise was intended to “disenfranchise” the people of Tamil Nadu and deprive them of political power. Gandhi described it as a BJP conspiracy with potentially far-reaching consequences for the state.

The Congress leader also warned Tamil Nadu-based parties against supporting the BJP on the issue, arguing that doing so would help the RSS and the ruling party undermine the state’s political interests.

Gandhi said leaders or parties that enabled the passage of such a proposal would be remembered by history as the “21st-century Ettappan”.

Ettappan, an 18th-century ruler, is widely invoked in Tamil political discourse as a symbol of betrayal for allegedly assisting the British against freedom fighter Veerapandiya Kattabomman.

The Congress has repeatedly expressed concern that delimitation based primarily on population could diminish the relative parliamentary representation of southern states. These states argue that they could be penalised for having implemented population-control measures more effectively than several northern states.

Gandhi was in Mamallapuram for a brainstorming and interaction session with Congress district committee presidents. His remarks on the sidelines of the meeting indicated that the party plans to build a wider political campaign around delimitation and seek the support of other parties in Tamil Nadu.

With IANS inputs