A fresh political tussle erupted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday over the stand taken by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay in the Lok Sabha delimitation issue.

The tussle comes after Vijay expressed his views at the Southern Zonal Council meet chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

DMK questions Vijay's stand on delimitation

The row began after DMK leader and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Udhayanidhi Stalin, questioned why Vijay had not used the word "freeze" while talking about the strength of the Lok Sabha with which Tamil Nadu would be represented in the Lower House at the meeting.

TN Assembly had approved a resolution to retain the number of Lok Sabha seats at 543. The strength of which Tamil Nadu's delegates would be determined through delimitation.

However, the DMK contended that by not demanding a freeze in the number of seats, the ruling TVK government had taken a "U-turn".

"The Tamil Nadu Assembly will not accept any dilution of Tamil Nadu's strength in the Lok Sabha and any attempt to shrink Tamil Nadu's share in the number of seats in Parliament," said Stalin while questioning Vijay's stand on delimitation. "It is a matter of national pride that Tamil Nadu has been able to contain the population growth despite being one of the most populated States in the country. We will not allow any dilution in Tamil Nadu's strength in the Lok Sabha.

TVK defends Vijay government's stand

• The TVK dismissed the criticism levelled against it by the DMK saying Tamil Nadu's interests were not being sacrificed.
• TVK MLA CTR Nirmal Kumar said the Southern Zonal Council meet had deliberated on several issues of common importance to the southern States. He added that there was no change in the TVK government's stand on delimitation.
• Similarly, Tamil Nadu Minister Adhav Arjuna said there was no change in the stand of his government on the delimitation issue and that they had consistently maintained their position of opposing any change.
• "Tamil Nadu's interests are dear to us and we will defend them at all costs," said Arjuna.

Tamil Nadu's 543 seat demand assumes centre stage

The issue of Tamil Nadu's demand to maintain the strength of its representation in the Lok Sabha assumes centre stage as the dispute between the DMK and TVK intensifies.

DMK has been demanding for the freeze in the number of seats as well as the number of seats allocated to the states from the Lok Sabha.

The issue affects all the southern States as all have successfully controlled population growth and are now worried that they may not get their due share as the number of Lok Sabha seats will be decided on the basis of population.

TVK Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay had recently appealed to the Union government not to deprive states which have made strides in population control of their share of representation in Lok Sabha.

TVK takes pot shots at DMK

The Assembly row soon got heated as Adhav Arjuna accused the DMK of being fickle-fickle on the delimitation issue. He charged that merely seeking ''fair delimitation'' would not serve Tamil Nadu's interests.

Arjuna also urged DMK members to stay put in the Assembly and oppose any Delimitation Bill directly rather than walk out of the Assembly as they had done on several occasions. ''All members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu should use their presence in Parliament to voice their opposition to any delimitation Bill that may be tabled in Parliament,'' said Arjuna.

TVK thanks DMK for the past protests on delimitation issue

Arjuna also remarked that DMK had played its part in preventing passage of any legislation on delimitation in the past.

He said the Delimitation Bill, which was tabled in Parliament earlier, would not have got passed if not for the protests by the DMK. The TVK leader appealed to all political parties to rally together once again to stop any attempts to change the number of seats from Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha.

"The DMK protested against the delimitation move in the past and I thank them for their role in this regard. Now, the demand is for Tamil Nadu's share in seats in the Lok Sabha to be protected. I appeal to all political parties to come together on this issue of Tamil Nadu's representation in Parliament as it is of paramount importance to the Tamil people."

Arjuna's remarks came in response to queries from AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on the TVK government's stand on Tamil Nadu's representation in the Lok Sabha.

Why delimitation is a sensitive issue for Tamil Nadu

The delimitation issue assumes great importance for Tamil Nadu and other southern States as these States have made stupendous strides in socio-economic development, particularly in the sphere of population control. The southern States have made concerted efforts to curb population growth and have largely succeeded in this mission.

These States, therefore, do not want their share of seats in the Lok Sabha, which is based on population, to be reduced.

C Joseph Vijay, while addressing the Southern Zonal Council meet, has sought a constitutional amendment to this effect.

DMK accuses Vijay of flip-flop on delimitation

The recent tussle between the TVK and DMK comes after the DMK protested against the remarks made by Vijay at the Southern Zonal Council meet.

The DMK accused the TVK government of taking a U-turn on the delimitation issue as Vijay, for the first time, appeared to have softened his stand on the expansion of the size of the Lok Sabha and the simultaneous increase in number of seats from the various States.

The DMK protest comes after Vijay's meeting with Amit Shah and his participation in the Southern Zonal Council meet. The protests are also in the wake of the fact that TVK has taken a lenient stand on the delimitation issue compared to its stand in the past.

Vijay government maintains that Tamil Nadu's interests will not be sacrificed

In response to the criticism levelled against it by the DMK, the Vijay government said it does not intend to sacrifice Tamil Nadu's interests in the delimitation issue.

Vijay has stated that Tamil Nadu's representation in the Lok Sabha will be protected while at the same time ensuring equity between the States.

Vijay has appealed to his party to work in tandem with the southern States as well as the Central government on the delimitation issue. He has also advocated that factors such as economic development, population control and growth and socio-economic development of the people should be taken into account while deciding on the quantum of representation of each State in the Lok Sabha.

He said the issue was one of equity, federalism and democratic principles.