Delimitation: M.K. Stalin will no longer urge couples to hold off on having kids

Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin on Monday, 3 March, said he now favoured young people having children immediately following marriage as, he said, a higher population appeared to be the criterion to get more MPs.

Addressing a wedding party in Nagapattinam, Stalin, also the DMK president, said that years ago, newlyweds were advised to not have children immediately following marriage.

However, the same thing must not be advised now, because a situation has arisen where only a higher population would ensure more MPs as the delimitation exercise would be on the basis of population, Stalin said.

Tamil Nadu paid attention to population control and succeeded — and that was the reason for the state's plight today, he added ruefully.

"I will not tell you to not have children hastily; have children immediately — but give them beautiful Tamil names," he said, directly appealing to the bride and bridegroom.

Further, he said that the question of delimitation is related to Tamil Nadu's rights and protecting its interests, hence the matter must not be evaluated politically alone.

The union government is planning to implement the three-language policy by compulsion, Stalin alleged, and similarly, with the delimitation exercise, it is attempting to cut down the number of seats for Tamil Nadu.

Against this background, an all-party meeting has been organised on 5 March on the Centre's proposed delimitation exercise. Most of the 40 parties in South India have confirmed their participation and only a few have said they would not be taking part. Appealing to the latter set of parties, the chief minister said that they should not evaluate the issue through the prism of political affiliations alone.

The BJP and former union minister G.K. Vaasan-led TMC (Moopanar) were the key parties that have declined to take part in the meeting. "I would like to appeal to them, please give a thought to it: this is not an issue between the DMK and your party."

The issue is all about Tamil Nadu and its interests and rights, and hence parties that have declared that they would not take part should also reconsider and participate, he urged.