The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is prepared to examine revised delimitation legislation before deciding its parliamentary position, marking a shift from the uncompromising opposition it displayed when the proposal was first introduced.
The party has not committed itself to supporting the measure. Its leaders have indicated, however, that they will consider the legislation if Tamil Nadu’s representation is protected and southern states are not penalised for achieving lower population growth.
The recalibration could strengthen the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s effort to secure the numbers required for a constitutional amendment. The DMK has 22 members in the Lok Sabha, making it an important bloc in a closely contested vote requiring the support of two-thirds of members present and voting.
DMK organisational secretary R S Bharathi said the party would decide its position after studying the revised provisions. Parliamentary leader Tiruchi Siva also sought firm safeguards and greater clarity, while rejecting suggestions that the party had already agreed to support the government.
The distinction is politically important. Reports that the DMK had accepted the legislation followed remarks by Revolutionary Socialist Party MP N K Premachandran after an all-party meeting. DMK representatives subsequently maintained that another party could not announce their position and stressed that no final decision had been taken.
The party supports reserving 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. It wants the quota implemented using the existing strength of the legislatures rather than being delayed or made dependent on a disputed redistribution of parliamentary seats.
Delimitation involves redrawing constituency boundaries and reallocating seats to reflect population changes. The Constitution froze the distribution of Lok Sabha seats among states until the first census conducted after 2026, largely to prevent states that successfully controlled population growth from losing political influence.
The government’s earlier package comprised the Constitution Bill, the Delimitation Bill and legislation covering Union Territories. The constitutional amendment failed to secure the necessary majority during an earlier parliamentary attempt, forcing the administration to withdraw the accompanying measures.
The proposed framework envisaged expanding the Lok Sabha from 543 elected members to 816. Tamil Nadu’s allocation was projected to rise from 39 seats to 59, while its share of the House would edge up from about 7.18 per cent to 7.23 per cent. The five southern states together were projected to increase their representation from 129 to 195 seats.
Those figures addressed one of the DMK’s central concerns but did not eliminate its broader reservations. Party leaders want statutory guarantees rather than political assurances that Tamil Nadu’s proportional influence will not decline. Questions also remain over the census to be used, the powers of the Delimitation Commission and the method for distributing seats within states.
The DMK’s earlier campaign portrayed population-based redistribution as a punishment for states that invested in education, public health and family planning. Party president M K Stalin coordinated opposition among southern chief ministers and argued that representation should not be weakened because of successful demographic policies.
Its willingness to study a modified proposal therefore represents a change in tactics, rather than an abandonment of that argument. The party appears to be moving from outright rejection towards conditional negotiation, seeking provisions that would expand the House while preserving each state’s existing proportional weight.
The shift also reflects a transformed political landscape in Tamil Nadu. Relations between the DMK and Congress have deteriorated, reducing the pressure on the party to follow a common opposition strategy in Parliament. The DMK is seeking greater freedom to negotiate legislation issue by issue while guarding its regional identity.
Cooperation on delimitation would not automatically translate into an electoral alliance with the BJP. The parties remain sharply divided over federalism, language policy, education, social justice and the authority of governors. Their principal support bases also remain politically incompatible.
Even limited parliamentary coordination could nevertheless help the NDA present the legislation as a national compromise rather than a measure driven primarily by states with faster population growth. It could also reduce resistance from other regional parties seeking guarantees that their existing share of seats will be maintained.
