Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 15 : BJP candidate Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday said that TVK chief Vijay's understanding of the delimitation move proposed by the Centre is "superficial".
The remarks by the former Telangana Governor came after Vijay flagged concerns over the unequal representation between the southern and northern states in the proposed legislation, saying that this is a "discriminatory action" by the Union government.
Speaking to ANI, Tamilisai Soundararajan, who is contesting from Mylapore assembly constituency, said, "I don't know whether he learned it, or fully understood it. Let him understand it and then speak about it. I think he is very superficial in understanding it. I'm not very eager to counter his points. He will always be talking like that."
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.
On delimitation, Tamil Nadu Minister and DMK candidate from Thiruverumbur Assembly constituency, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, said the Centre's move is very suspicious.
"We see this as an assault on the state's rights. If they had given us a draft of this Act, we could have at least discussed it... We are all very busy with the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu elections. They are doing such a thing at such a time. So something fishy is happening," he told ANI.
Tamil Nadu will go to the polls in a single phase on April 23, with the counting of votes scheduled for May 4.
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