Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Thursday asked the Union government to provide a legislative assurance that any state’s representation in Parliament will not reduce due to the delimitation exercise, The New Indian Express reported.

The process of fixing the boundaries of electoral constituencies is called delimitation.

Vijay said that southern states had made significant progress in controlling their population, as well as human development and economic growth. The Union government should assure the states that they would not be penalised for meeting national goals, he added.

He made the statements a week after the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution calling for the Lok Sabha’s strength to permanently remain at 543 seats.

While introducing the resolution in the Assembly, Vijay had also said that the 33% reservation for women should be implemented in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections based on the current 543 seats.

During a three-day special session of Parliament in April, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government introduced the 2026 Constitution 131st Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act and redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies.

The bill, one of the three draft legislations that were introduced, required a two-thirds majority of votes in Parliament to pass. The ruling National Democratic Alliance does not have a two-thirds majority of MPs in any House. Therefore, it required the support of Opposition parties to pass the amendment.

The consideration of the bill was rejected by the Lok Sabha with 298 MPs voting in its favour and 230 against.

Vijay’s remarks on Thursday drew criticism from both the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Hindustan Times reported. The Opposition parties accused him of changing his position on the proposed exercise.

Rejecting the allegation, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam said Vijay’s speech presented “a broad visionary perspective…to protect the current representation of southern states”.

Meanwhile, Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday said his party wanted the current allocation of Lok Sabha seats to be retained for another 25 years, including Tamil Nadu’s 39 seats.

“We are pleased that this stance is supported by Tamil Nadu’s ruling party and main Opposition party,” the Congress leader said.

The Congress is in alliance with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had backed the resolution against delimitation in the state Assembly.

Edited by Sneha.

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