Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 15 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday claimed that the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance will win a two-thirds majority in the 234-seat Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
Congress leader Shivakumar visited Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to campaign for the DMK-Congress alliance.
He said that the DMK has taken along all sections of the society and provided good welfare schemes.
"DMK and this alliance have taken along every section of the society. And they are all doing a very good job. In the last five years, the government has done a very good job. And we have given good guarantees and schemes for the welfare of the people. Prices are rising a lot. The income of the common man is decreasing due to the policies of the central government. Now, under Stalin's leadership, I think there will be a cakewalk. With a two-thirds majority, DMK and its allies will win this election," DK Shivakumar said.
In Tamil Nadu, Shivakumar campaigned for Congress candidate Gopinath Palaniyappan from the Erode (East) Assembly constituency.
When asked about the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam and delimitation in the Lok Sabha, he asked the Centre to take each party into confidence. He said, "We are telling them to take every party into confidence and then do this. Let them call us and discuss it after the assembly elections are over. This is not a bill to help any political party. This is a bill to help the country and the women of this country."
Both Congress and the DMK have vehemently opposed the delimitation. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin termed the proposed amendment Bill by the Union government a "massive historic injustice" against Tamil Nadu and other southern states and called for black flag protests across the state.
The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, which provides for 33 per cent reservation for women legislators, is linked to the delimitation process in the Lok Sabha. The government is planning to implement the women's reservation ahead of the 2029 General Elections by bringing in an amendment to the 2023 Act and a constitutional amendment to delink the delimitation process from the 2027 census.
According to sources, the government has proposed to increase the number of seats in the House to 850, with 815 seats proposed for the States and the remaining 35 for the Union Territories. The Lok Sabha has 543 seats at present.
While the seats in the Lok Sabha will witness a 50 per cent increase, the opposition parties have expressed concern as this increase will not be on a pro-rata basis for each state. The delimitation exercise, under Article 82 of the Constitution, is linked to the population of a constituency.
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