Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin urged the people of the state to join the language war and oppose delimitation, both issues at centre of a row with the Centre. On his birthday, he said that the Centre claims it is not imposing its will on the state, but actions suggest otherwise.

The Centre and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the delimitation exercise expected next year, which will alter the proportion of Lok Sabha MPs from southern states. The redrawing of parliamentary seats will likely see Tamil Nadu gain only two seat despite having controlled population levels.

Speaking on this on the recent video shared on X, Mr Stalin, “Don’t penalise southern states that took responsible measures to control population growth. Delimitation will affect Tamil Nadu’s self-respect, social schemes and people’s welfare.

Apart from delimitation, Mr Stalin said that the two-part challenge faced by the state includes a language war. “We were pioneers of the language battle, setting the course for the entire nation,” he said. He added that the three-language policy detailed in the National Education Policy, often referred to by him and his minister as ‘Hindi imposition’, “has already resulted in withholding of our rightful funds”.

“You should take this message to people. Every individual must rise to defend our state,” Mr Stain said in a video message on X.

Earlier, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah termed Union Minister Amit Shah’s assurance to Southern states that they would not be disadvantageed in the delimitation process as untrustworthy. “Going by the home minister’s vague remarks, it seems that either he lacks proper information or there is a deliberate intent to disadvantage the southern states, including Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh,” he said.

To deliberate on the delimitation issue, Mr Stalin has invited 40 registered political parties to join the discussions at the Secretariat on March 5. He had earlier said that reducing Tamil Nadu’s Lok Sabha constituencies from 39 to 31, based on population figures from the latest census, would the states’ influence in Parliament and weaken its voice on national issues.

“It is not just about numbers… it is about our rights. I invite all parties to discuss NEET (the entrance test for medical courses, another source of friction), the three-language policy (which the DMK has called ‘Hindi imposition’), allocation of funds from the centre,” Mr Stalin said.