TN delimitation row: Stalin warns Modi against turning ‘calm South into storm'

Chennai, Apr 8 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday said the South demanded a fair delimitation and that the state will not accept any decision taken by the Centre on the subject without its consent.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not turn a "calm south into a storm", he cautioned, and posed a set of questions to the PM.

"The Prime Minister must answer these fair and pressing questions raised by the people of the South," Stalin said in a post on 'X' with a headline "Delimitation Danger: Is India sliding into dictatorship?" The DMK chief sought to know why the Union BJP government was "shrouding the entire delimitation process in secrecy instead of coming clean on how it intends to carry it out." "In 2001, former Prime Minister Vajpayee deferred delimitation for 25 years in the national interest. What is Prime Minister Modi’s answer to the just and reasonable demand of southern states to follow the same path today?" he asked in the post.

He questioned the timing of convening a special session of Parliament in the midst of five state elections and why the Union government brushed aside the fair and reasoned demand of Opposition leaders to hold the special session only after April 29.

"What is it that you are trying to hide? Forcing through far reaching constitutional amendments without even convening an all party consultation is nothing short of dictatorship," Stalin claimed.

"The DMK will not stand by and watch any attempt that places the rights of southern states at stake while handing greater power to the North. This is the future of the people who live here. Any decision taken without our consent, without even engaging with us, will not be accepted, come what may," he said.

Stalin said the questions raised by the Opposition and the media were not being answered and sought to know if the Prime Minister would at least answer the questions of the people. PTI