In Oppn meet, Stalin calls Amit Shah’s delimitation promise ‘ambiguous’; Tamil Nadu BJP stages black flag protest

“Manipur has been burning for two years, and its people’s demands are being ignored because they don’t have the representation to make their voices count,” Stalin said, linking parliamentary strength to a state’s ability to seek justice.

Meanwhile, as leaders began to arrive for the meeting, Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai and other leaders staged a black flag protest in Chennai. Annamalai dismissed the JAC meet as “mere drama” and slammed Stalin for not convening similar meetings on the Cauvery and Mullaiperiar water-sharing disputes with Karnataka and Kerala, respectively.

In an elaborate show of unity, 14 leaders from at least five states across the country, including, Chief Ministers of Kerala, Telangana and Punjab, namely, Pinarayi Vijayan, A Revanth Reddy, and Bhagwant Mann, respectively, along with Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, and senior representatives of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) are present at the meeting.

In his address, Stalin argued that reallocation based on population size would penalise progressive states while deepening North-South disparities. “At least eight seats will be lost if they proceed with delimitation as planned,” he said, adding that reducing representation is not just about numbers but about the survival of states.

Ahead of the meeting, Stalin, in a post on X, wrote: “Today will be etched in history as the day when states that have contributed to our nation’s development came together to safeguard its federal structure by ensuring #FairDelimitation.”

Today will be etched in history as the day when states that have contributed to our nation’s development came together to safeguard its federal structure by ensuring #FairDelimitation.

I warmly welcome all Chief Ministers and political leaders to this meeting, united in our… pic.twitter.com/s35eg8Tw7g

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) March 22, 2025

“I warmly welcome all Chief Ministers and political leaders to this meeting, united in our commitment to #FairDelimitation,” he added.

The JAC meeting, attended by leaders from Kerala, Telangana, Punjab, Karnataka, Odisha, and West Bengal, is being convened in Chennai amid concerns that the delimitation exercise, scheduled after 2026, could weaken South Indian states politically. Stalin clarified that the opposition was not against delimitation itself but against an unfair formula that would disproportionately impact states that have successfully controlled population growth.

‘Not against delimitation, but must be fair’: Stalin

Pointing to Tamil Nadu’s economic and social progress, Stalin said well-governed states should not be punished for their success. “We are not against delimitation, but it must be fair delimitation,” he added.

“Every state gathered here has made remarkable progress over the years,” Stalin said. “But if our representation is reduced, it will set back policies for youth, gender equality, and social justice. Our language, culture, and identity will suffer. Without political power, we will become slaves in our own land.”

On Amit Shah’s remarks, Stalin’s questioned the credibility of the assurance and said that the senior BJP leader made the statement at a public rally but not in Parliament. “His statement was politically ambiguous,” Stalin said, seemingly implying that the BJP may still push for population-based seat reallocation that could dilute Tamil Nadu’s parliamentary influence.

Accusing the BJP of consistently weakening state powers, Stalin called on opposition leaders to turn their unity into a national model. “BJP has always been a party that grabs power from the states,” he said. “The decisions we take here must reach the people.”

With delimitation shaping up as a major flashpoint, Stalin’s speech clarified that he and his allies are demanding not just verbal assurances but concrete legislative safeguards to prevent South India’s political marginalisation.

BJP stages black flag protest, calls it “corruption hiding meeting”

Reacting to the meet, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu staged a black flag protest, slamming Stalin for not convening similar meetings on the Cauvery and Mullaiperiar water-sharing disputes with Karnataka and Kerala, respectively, news agency PTI reported.

BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan described the meeting as “corruption hiding meeting,” and said that the black flag protest was held to “safeguard the interests of the people of Tamil Nadu.”

Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson C R Kesavan said that the DMK was staging the delimitation drama “as a divisionary tactic to deflect public attention away from DMK’s corrupt, failed, disastrous misrule.” “DMK’s divisive politics of fear mongering, attempting to mislead and misinform people will badly boomerang back on the DMK. Rahul Gandhi and Congress, with their mutually conflicting and contradicting stand on delimitation, are indulging in a very pathetic politics of opportunism which is utterly condemnable,” PTI quoted Kesavan.