Stalin meets Modi in New Delhi; places slew of demands for Tamil Nadu's development
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on the sidelines of the 10th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog and presented him a memorandum outlining several demands related to the development of the State.
Speaking to media after the meeting, Mr. Stalin said he had requested the Prime Minister to release funds for Samagra Shiksha scheme, approval for the proposed metro rail projects in Coimbatore and Madurai, expansion of the airports in Coimbatore and Madurai, handing over the operation and maintenance of Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) in Chennai to Chennai Metro Rail Limited, and widening the Chengalpattu-Tindivanam National Highway into a eight-lane road.
Further, he demanded the establishment of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Coimbatore, changing the nomenclature of some communities in the list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, inclusion of Dalit Christians into Scheduled Caste list and immediate release of fishermen from Tamil Nadu apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy.
He also said he had thanked the Prime Minister for releasing funds for the Chennai Metro Rail Phase II Project and expressed hope that Mr. Modi will consider his slew of demands.
Mr. Stalin, while responding to a question on criticism from Opposition parties regarding his participation in the NITI Aayog meeting, said: 'Mr. Palaniswami [AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami] had said I am waving a white flag. I don't have any white flag. Only he has a saffron flag.'
When asked about his meeting with Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Chief Minister said: 'It was a courtesy visit. Whenever I come to Delhi, I meet them. We also spoke politics,' he added. To a question on alleged financial irregularities in the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) and sand quarries, Mr. Stalin said: 'It is false propaganda.'
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Census-2027 reignites delimitation row: ‘BJP plans to reduce Tamil Nadu's Lok Sabha seats,' alleges MK Stalin
The Union government has announced the dates of the long-delayed Census. The government said on Wednesday that the Census will be carried out in two phases before 1 March 2027. This time, the enumerators will collect caste details of residents along with the population numbers. This is happening for the first time since independence. The annoucement has, however, reopened the debate on deimitation with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the centre of planning to reduce Tamil Nadu's parliamentary seats. The Census data is likely become the base for delimitation, women's reservation and one nation, one election. Stalin, the DMK chief, demanded an answer from the Union government over the timing for conducting a caste census, highlighting the constitutional mandate that delimitation must follow the census after 2026. "The Indian Constitution mandates that delimitation must follow the first census after 2026. The BJP has now delayed the census to 2027, making their plan clear to reduce Tamil Nadu's Parliamentary representation," Stalin posted on X. Stalin said that the warnings he issued earlier regarding delimitation are unfolding now. Stalin further attacked All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, accusing him of being "complicit in this betrayal" by siding with the BJP. As per the Ministry of Home Affairs statement on Population Census 2027, the reference date will be March 1. For the Union Territory of Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be October 1, 2026. The full schedule will be notified on June 16. The reference date is actually a cut-off date, as the population of a country is usually declared as of a specific day or date. The official headcount, and the houselisting process precedes this cut-off date. 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Earlier this year, the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu even passed a resolution opposing Census-based delimitation. In March, Stalin-led a joint action committee (JAC) comprising the chief ministers of four states and political parties from three others called for a fair delimitation. The JAC urged the Centre to extend the freeze on the delimitation on parliamentary constituencies by another three decades. During the Emergency (June 25 1975 – March 21, 1977) the Congress government headed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhipassed the 42nd amendment, officially known as The Constitution (Forty-second amendment) Act, 1976. This meant that the 1971 census was used as the reference point until the first census after 2000. It basically froze the number of Lok Sabha seats until after the first Census taken after 2000. In 2002, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government extended the freeze for next 25 years until at least 2026. 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Sources said after the enumeration is completed, provisional data of the population may become available within 10 days in the month of March. 'This time, enumeration is being done digitally. So things will be faster. There will still be some time lag between the provisional data and the final data. Removal of discrepancies through verification may take six months. It is also likely that there will be very little difference between the provisional data and final data since it is being done digitally,' an official of the MHA said. Once the final data is out, which could be in late 2027 itself, it will open the doors to start the process of delimitation. Parliament will have to pass a Delimitation Act to pave the way for formation of a Delimitation Commission. This Commission would then devise a formula (population per constituency), in consultation with various stakeholders including state governments, based on which the delimitation exercise would be conducted. 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