Siddaramaiah extends support for multi-state battle against delimitation, joint committee to meet on March 22

On Wednesday, K Ponmudy, Tamil Nadu Minister of Forests, and Rajya Sabha MP Mohammed Abdullah Ismail called on Siddaramaiah and sought a “formal consent to join the Joint Action Committee (JAC)” comprising of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka in the south, West Bengal and Odisha in the east and Punjab to the north.

A letter from Stalin to Siddaramaiah also sought the nomination of one senior representative from the Congress to serve on the JAC and help coordinate the states’ unified strategy.

Raising concerns on delimitation, Stalin, in his letter to Siddaramaiah, said, “Post 2026, the situation may become drastically skewed if the (delimitation) exercise is conducted as per the next census population. Those states which controlled their population and achieved superior governance indicators will face an unjust punishment – reduced representation in the very forum where national policies are determined.”

Though the movement was not against delimitation itself, Stalin said, “What we oppose is its weaponization against States that fulfilled their national duties, thus punishing progress.”

The letter also took a dig at the Union government for not providing “neither clarity nor any concrete commitment” to address our concerns. “When the very foundation of our democracy is at stake, can we accept such vague assurances? When our States’ futures hang in the balance, do we not deserve transparent dialogue?” Stalin said in his letter.