A meeting of Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu convened by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Saturday to discuss the proposed delimitation called for maintaining the status quo by freezing the number of Lok Sabha seats at the existing 543 and retaining the current representation of the States.

It was also decided that a government resolution should be adopted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly to protect the rights of Tamil Nadu and the southern States.

**ALSO WATCH ** Delimitation row: T.N. all-party meet favours retaining existing Lok Sabha seats till 2056

The meeting was held at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai. Of the total 57 MPs — 39 in the Lok Sabha and 18 in the Rajya Sabha — from Tamil Nadu, only 19 MPs, including senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram, participated.

According to an official release, during the meeting, it was decided that all parties should oppose and vote against the proposed Constitutional Amendment Bill on delimitation.

The participants of the meeting also objected to giving sweeping powers to the Delimitation Commission and said Parliament should have the final authority. During the meeting, the release said.

Mr. Vijay appealed to MPs belonging to all political parties to work together to protect the rights of Tamil Nadu, according to the release.

The meeting lasted for more than one and a half hours. After the meeting, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said the number of MPs in the Lok Sabha must be frozen at 543. He said all the MPs unanimously opposed any move to increase it and said Tamil Nadu’s 39 Lok Sabha seats must also be protected.

Mr. Karti said increasing the total strength of the Lok Sabha to 815 or 850 and giving Tamil Nadu representation proportionate to the increase would not benefit the State in any way.

“The BJP government had already drastically reduced the number of sitting days of Parliament, leaving MPs with inadequate time to speak. Increasing the number of MPs would further reduce the opportunity for MPs to speak,” he said.

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol. Thirumavalavan said the proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies should be dropped. The existing Lok Sabha strength must continue and its allocation among the States must also remain unchanged.

He said the unanimous resolution was that there should be no move to increase the number of MPs by 50% or to increase their number based on population.

To a question on the DMK boycotting the meeting, Mr. Thirumavalavan said, “Though they have not participated in this meeting, I hope they would adopt the same position as they had taken earlier.”

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Manickam Tagore said, “There is no fair delimitation. If at all there is a delimitation, it will be unfair to Tamil Nadu. The delimitation exercise is a gimmick.”

MDMK principal secretary Durai Vaiko said, “Our position is clear on the issue of delimitation. The existing status quo must be maintained. Only a Constitutional Amendment Bill to freeze the existing number of seats should be brought in.”

CPI(M) MP Su. Venkatesan said when the delimitation Bill was tabled in Parliament in April, Home Minister Amit Shah said all States would be given a 50% increase in representation. However, there was no such provision in the Bill. “It is now being said that what he had said that day is going to take the form of law. But this is a deceptive ploy. Fair delimitation is no delimitation,” he said.

Apart from MPs, Ministers N. Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, R. Nirmalkumar, and Rajmohan; Chief Secretary M. Sai Kumar; and senior officials participated in the meeting.

A total of 30 MPs (22 in the Lok Sabha and eight in the Rajya Sabha) from the DMK, four from the AIADMK, and one each from the DMDK, MNM and PMK boycotted the meeting, while Congress MP from Mayiladuthurai R. Sudha did not participate in the meeting as she was in Karnataka due to party-related work.

Published - August 08, 2026 10:26 pm IST