Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, in a video posted online on Saturday, said the struggle against the delimitation bill has been successful, and thanked BSP leaders, including Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, who “defeated the black bill”.
“To all the MPs who defeated the Black Bill, which was brought entirely in favor of the BJP under the guise of delimitation, as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, I extend my thanks,” he said.
The demarcation bill has identified Tamil Nadu’s friends and traitors, Stalin said, adding that the failure to pass the bill represented a crushing defeat for AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami even before the elections. “It has been proven that Palaniswami is an agent of Delhi,” he noted.
Noting what had been achieved was only a “partial victory,” Stalin said, “Just as in 2001, a constitutional amendment must now be made to postpone the demarcation of the border for the next 25 years until 2051.”
He urged the BJP government to immediately implement the Women’s Reservation Act supported by his party in 2023 without any conditions. He added: “This alone will constitute a complete victory.”
Meanwhile, Palaniswami said the state lost a golden opportunity to increase its political power after the demarcation bill was rejected in Parliament. “Not only did we lose the golden opportunity given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get 50% additional seats, but MK Stalin, being a puppet and not understanding the essence of the opportunity, blindly opposed it,” he said.
“Because of your reckless opposition to the bill, the demarcation of boundaries will be based on the 2026 Census and we will lose more parliamentary seats,” EPS added.
He also pointed to the defeat of a similar bill in 1988 introduced in Parliament by former Prime Minister Jayalalithaa during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure as Prime Minister. “At that time also, your India coalition partners were ensuring that the bill would not be passed.”
Union Finance Minister Sitharaman said Palaniswami effectively demonstrated how the Opposition, led by Congress and Stalin, allowed Tamil Nadu to lose the opportunity of women representation in Parliament and the Assembly. “Blind hatred has damaged the prospects of the state in general and women in particular. Short-sighted, stubborn, visionless and misogynistic, Tamil Nadu may end up losing more, rather than gaining,” she said in the X post.
“She refused to be part of a win-win proposal as asserted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” she added.
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