'Wait And Watch': MK Stalin Keeps Centre, Opposition Guessing on Delimitation Stand

MK Stalin is not revealing his cards yet. Both the ruling NDA and the Opposition INDIA bloc are looking at his DMK ahead of the Monsoon Session that starts next week.

At a meeting with his MPs on Thursday, Stalin told them that the party is in wait-and-watch mode on the proposed Delimitation Bill.

At the virtual meeting, DMK president made it clear that the party's ideology and Tamil Nadu's interests will take precedence over political alignments.

Sources say the DMK will not automatically side with either the BJP or the Congress and will decide its stand on an issue-by-issue basis.

Read | Race For Two-Thirds Majority: Inside Parliament's New Numbers Game

A final decision on the Delimitation Bill will be taken by the DMK only after the government releases the text of the proposed legislation, sources added.

Stalin's 22 MPs in the Lok Sabha are key to the strategies of both the government and the Opposition in Parliament if the Centre makes another attempt to see the Delimitation Bill through.

When the Bill came in Parliament in April, DMK was its most vocal opponent with the party leaders burning the copies of the bill, wearing black clothes to Parliament and voting against it with the Opposition eventually leading to its defeat.

MK Stalin burnt a copy of the Delimitation Bill in April

A lot has changed since April.

DMK lost Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and also its key ally, the Congress. The bitter DMK-Congress divorce has given hopes to the BJP that it can now court the Southern party for issue-based support in Parliament.

Read | Supriya Sule Rules Out Party Switch To NDA, Drops A Hint On Delimitation Bill

The DMK has already asked the Lok Sabha Speaker for a new seating arrangement in the House as it doesn't want to be seen sitting close to the Congress. The party also boycotted the INDIA bloc meet in Delhi last month.

All this is good news for the BJP. Sources have indicated that the ruling party is hoping to get DMK MPs to support the amended Delimitation Bill that it plans to present again in the Monsoon Session.

Sources have indicated that the government may bring in the fresh bill with a provision of assurances of a uniform 50% rise in Lok Sabha seats across states. The Opposition during the debate had insisted making the 50% cap part of the bill text. 

Another INDIA bloc ally, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, has also hinted that it may support the bill if the 50% cap is made part of it. "Give the 50 percent seats increase condition on paper, then we will discuss," Supriya Sule said on Wednesday.