MK Stalin’s Fresh Salvo At Centre, BJP Over Census And Delimitation
Chennai, 6 June 2025 — Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin has delivered a vigorous public rebuke to the central Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, accusing it of deliberately manipulating the national census and subsequent delimitation process to diminish the political voice of southern states.
“The Census delay is no accident. The delimitation plan is no coincidence,” Stalin declared, adding that this unsettling design is “at our doorstep.” The Union Government’s decision to postpone the decennial census to March 2027, he contended, “gives the BJP the means to restructure parliamentary representation to its advantage, at the cost of the southern states”.
Constitutionally, delimitation must follow the first census conducted after 2026. By deferring the census, Stalin says, the BJP is positioning itself to redraw Lok Sabha seats in a manner that punishes southern states—especially those like Tamil Nadu that have upheld population control—and rewards states in the Hindi-speaking north.
Stalin is not alone in his concerns. Former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has suggested the census delay is “a strategic move to expedite the delimitation process” in favour of BJP-aligned regions. Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described the move as a “sword of Damocles” hanging over the federal equity of representation.
In a stinging criticism of his political rivals, Stalin accused AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami of being complicit: “EPS has surrendered to Delhi’s domination,” he stated.
Responding to Stalin’s accusations, the Union Home Ministry, led by Amit Shah, assured that “concerns of southern states will be addressed during the delimitation process”. Yet Stalin pointed out that such assurances are vague and insufficient. He emphasised that what is needed is a formal parliamentary commitment and constitutional amendment to uphold fairness.
Asserting that southern nations might lose seats, Stalin called on non-BJP-ruled states to unite. He previously led the creation of a Joint Action Committee, including chief ministers from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, and Punjab, demanding that delimitation be frozen further and based on the 1971 census.
Stalin’s warning goes beyond census mechanics to federal balance. “States that disregarded population control for decades are set to gain more seats in Parliament. This unfair shift skews the federal balance and rewards irresponsibility,” he maintained.
Demanding action, the Chief Minister has proposed a resolution in both the Tamil Nadu assembly and Parliament, urging the Centre to postpone delimitation and enact constitutional guarantees protecting southern representation.
With the census now set for 1 March 2027 and the potential delimitation process underway, the stakes for India’s democratic fairness are high. Stalin has warned, “If the Union Government proceeds with delimitation based on the 2027 census, the democratic power of peninsular India will be reduced to irrelevance”.
In a final defiant message, he said, “Even if betrayers like the ADMK choose to kneel before the BJP for their political survival, the people of Tamil Nadu, led by the DMK, will never allow our state to be punished for its progress. Tamil Nadu will fight! Tamil Nadu will win!”
