The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution seeking to maintain the current strength of 543 MPs in the Lok Sabha and prevent the possible impact on the representation of the southern states due to the proposed delimitation. Chief Minister Joseph Vijay presented this proposal in the Assembly. After discussion it was passed unanimously.
As soon as the assembly proceedings began, Chief Minister Vijay proposed a proposal on behalf of the government and addressed the House. The proposal urges the Central Government to permanently maintain the existing number of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha and ensure stability in the distribution of seats among the states. Along with this, a demand has been made to implement 33 percent reservation for women in the general elections of 2029 on the basis of existing 543 Lok Sabha seats without any delay.
Demand not to delay women’s reservation
After discussing the proposal, Chief Minister Vijay said that the central government should implement 33 percent reservation for women. He said that this is not a concession for women, but their democratic right.
He said that with the empowerment of one woman, a family moves forward and with the empowerment of thousands of women, the entire country moves forward. He stressed the need to give equal opportunities to women in politics and said that they should get adequate representation in the political system.
The Chief Minister said that the Central Government has said that reservation for women will be implemented after the completion of the census and delimitation process. He said that despite the passage of the Women’s Reservation Act, there is a delay in its implementation. Women’s reservation should not be postponed further on the basis of census and delimitation.
Fear of delimitation affecting the representation of southern states
Vijay said that if delimitation is done on the basis of any census after 1971, then the representation in Parliament of those southern states including Tamil Nadu, which have taken effective steps in the field of population control, may be affected. He said states that adopted effective policies to control population growth should not suffer a loss in political representation after delimitation. According to him, this is a matter of real concern for the southern states.
The Chief Minister said that the present number of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha should be retained permanently. Also, the distribution of seats among the states should also be ensured permanently, so that the representation of any state is not adversely affected due to delimitation.
Women reservation should be implemented in 2029 elections
The Tamil Nadu Assembly resolution urges the central government to implement 33 percent reservation for women without any delay. The Chief Minister said that women’s reservation should be implemented on the basis of existing 543 seats in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
According to the Chief Minister, the Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously passed the resolution regarding these demands. The proposal seeks to protect the representation of southern states from the possible impact of delimitation, keep the current number of 543 Lok Sabha seats permanent and quickly implement 33 percent reservation for women.