No southern state will lose seats after delimitation: Shah to Stalin

Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday dismissed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s claims of injustice by the Centre over fund allocation and accused him of using the delimitation issue as a “diversionary tactic”.

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“Mr Stalin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already clarified in Parliament that, on a pro-rata basis, not a single seat in any southern state, including Tamil Nadu, will be reduced. The southern states will receive their rightful share in any increase in seats,” Shah said at a public meeting in Coimbatore.

On Tuesday, Stalin had announced a March 5 meeting in Chennai with all registered political parties to discuss the impending Lok Sabha seat delimitation. He had claimed Tamil Nadu could lose up to eight seats if the process takes place.

Refuting these claims, Shah accused Stalin of spreading misinformation.

“While the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister frequently alleges injustice by the Modi government, the fact is that between 2004 and 2014, the UPA government allocated only Rs 1,52,901 crore in grants and devolution to Tamil Nadu. From 2014 to 2024, the Modi government provided Rs 5,08,337 crore,” he asserted.

Lashing out at the DMK government over law and order, Shah claimed that “anti-national tendencies are at an all-time high in Tamil Nadu”.

“The Tamil Nadu Government even provided security for the last rites of 1998 Coimbatore bomb blast mastermind SA Basha,” he said.

He further alleged that the drug mafia operated freely in the state and that illegal mining mafia was making politics corrupt there.

“All DMK leaders have a Master’s degree in corruption,” Shah remarked. “One is involved in a cash-for-jobs scam, another in a money laundering case, a third in a disproportionate assets case, a fourth in a coal scam and a fifth in a Rs 6,000 crore CRIDP scam. It seems the DMK recruits its members based on corruption,” he alleged.

Taking a swipe at Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi, he said, “While the people of Tamil Nadu are anguished over various issues, the CM and his son are creating distractions to divert public attention.”

Expressing concern over women’s safety, he pointed to rising incidents of violence against girl students in universities and noted that college students were being killed for opposing the sale of illicit liquor.

Shah exuded confidence that the NDA would win Tamil Nadu in the next Assembly elections, claiming the victory would be even bigger than its successes in Maharashtra and Haryana.