Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin Monday suggested people in the state should have more children, appearing to link the issue to the delimitation exercise. This comes two days after Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu said people in southern states should have more children to combat the region’s declining population.
Stalin made the comments at a function organised by Tamil Nadu’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, where he presided over weddings of 31 couples.
Addressing the gathering, he referred to an old Tamil blessing, ‘pathinarum petru peru vazhvu vazhga’, that bestows married couples with 16 kinds of wealth and long lives.
While the wealth does not include children, he said, “But, now there’s a scenario where our representation in Parliament might decrease. It has made us question why we should have a small family and also made us think why we should not have 16 children. We also should not forget that,” he said.
There, the chief minister chose to wind up the speech, without elaborating on the subject.
According to a research paper published ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in the case the delimitation exercise is carried out in India as scheduled in 2026, northern states will gain 32 seats while southern states will lose around 24 seats.
The states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala would together lose 16 seats in the process that is carried out to reflect the demographic changes in a state, Union Territory or at the national level, the study, titled ‘India’s Emerging Crisis of Representation’, said.
This is not the first time the DMK leader has raised concerns about the process of delimitation. On 14 February this year, the DMK-led state government passed a resolution in the assembly against delimitation and ‘one nation one election’.
After the resolution was passed, Stalin, in a post on X, said it was a watershed moment for Tamil Nadu “as it took a decisive stand against the Union BJP government’s authoritarian agenda”.
“We refuse to be treated as second-class citizens and have unanimously passed two resolutions: One to shield our state from unfair delimitation exercise, ensuring that we are not punished for our socio-economic progress and successful population control measures; and another staunchly opposing the undemocratic [‘one nation one election’] fantasy, which threatens the very fabric of our diverse democracy,” Stalin added.
Earlier, in 2023, when the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed, Stalin had appealed to the Union government to allay the fears of political parties in the southern states that the delimitation process would reduce the representation of the states in Parliament, calling the exercise a “sword” hanging above their heads.
On Saturday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had urged families in the southern states to have more children, alleging that the fertility rate in the region had fallen to 1.6, below the national average of 2.1.
He had also said that the state government was considering bringing in new legislation as incentives for people to have larger families to increase the population.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
