Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday firmly rejected Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s claim that the state would lose eight Lok Sabha seats due to the upcoming delimitation process. Addressing BJP workers in Tamil Nadu, Shah said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear in the Lok Sabha that even after delimitation, the seats of none of the states of the south will be decreased.”
Dismissing concerns of political marginalisation, Shah accused Stalin of spreading misinformation on the issue, calling it a distraction from the DMK government’s failures. “They are going to do a meeting on delimitation saying we won’t allow any injustice to the south,” he said, referring to the all-party meeting convened by the Tamil Nadu government on March 5 to discuss the matter.
Refuting Stalin’s accusations that the Centre was denying Tamil Nadu its due share of funds, Shah pointed to the Modi government’s financial support to the state. “The Modi government has provided ₹5,08,337 crore to Tamil Nadu between 2014 and 2024,” he stated, underlining that no discrimination was being done against the state.
He also criticised the state government’s handling of law and order, alleging that criminal elements were thriving under the DMK regime. “The anti-national tendency is at an all-time high in Tamil Nadu,” he claimed. He accused the state of failing to act against extremists, stating, “Tamil Nadu government provided security during the last journey of 1998 bomb blast accused and mastermind (SA Basha).”
Further attacking the DMK, Shah alleged that the drug mafia was operating freely in the state and that illegal mining had made politics corrupt. “All the leaders of DMK have got Master’s degrees in corruption,” he charged.
The issue of delimitation has become a major political flashpoint in Tamil Nadu, with Stalin alleging that states that controlled their population growth, like Tamil Nadu, would suffer representation losses in Parliament. He had claimed that the state would lose eight seats in the next delimitation exercise, reducing its tally from 39 to 31.
The Tamil Nadu government has been vocal against what it perceives as an imbalance in representation due to population-based seat allocation. The March 5 all-party meeting is aimed at consolidating opposition against any reduction in Tamil Nadu’s parliamentary presence. However, Shah asserted that no such loss would happen, emphasizing that the Modi government had made this clear in Parliament.
Apart from countering Stalin’s claims, Shah expressed confidence in BJP’s electoral future in the state. He declared that the NDA would come to power in Tamil Nadu in the next Assembly elections, promising a victory bigger than BJP’s wins in Maharashtra and Haryana. "In 2026, we will establish an NDA-led Govt in Tamil Nadu. We will put an end to nepotism in the state. Corruption will be eradicated in Tamil Nadu. We are committed to removing individuals involved in anti-India activities from Tamil Nadu."