DMK Delegation Meets Patnaik In Bhubaneswar, Discusses Delimitation Issue

A two-member delegation of Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK on Tuesday met Odisha's Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik here and deliberated on the issue of delimitation. DMK leaders TRB Rajaa and Dayanidhi Maran met Patnaik at Naveen Niwas, the BJD president's residence. The delegation urged Patnaik to make the BJD a part of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) against the Centre's proposal for redrawing of constituencies solely on the basis of population.

"The DMK leaders also invited the BJD president to the meeting (over the issue) at Chennai on March 22. Patnaik has also expressed BJD's concern about the matter," senior leader of the Odisha regional party, Debi Prasad Mishra, told PTI. The delegation is also likely to meet Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das during their two-day visit to Odisha.

The DMK has been reaching out to leaders of different parties, including those also within the NDA like Chandrababu Naidu, to discuss the delimitation issue. The party has also voiced opposition to it in Parliament. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin had on Friday written to his counterparts in Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, Punjab, Odisha, inviting them to join hands with the state and be part of the JAC for an "uncompromising fight" over delimitation of Lok Sabha seats, which he termed as an "unfair exercise".

Stalin proposed the inaugural JAC meeting in Chennai on March 22, and urged the leaders to join forces to chart a "collective course forward". "On behalf of CM Stalin, we have come here to formally invite Naveen babu to attend the meeting in Chennai... He shares our concerns. States, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Punjab and Odisha are going to be directly affected (by delimitation)," DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran said.