Stalin thanks Opposition leaders for defeating ‘Black Law’ in House

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, in a video released online on Saturday, said that the struggle against the delimitation bill has succeeded and thanked INDIA alliance party leaders, including Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, who “defeated the Black Law”. Stalin thanks Opposition leaders for defeating ‘Black Law’ in House“To everyone in Parliament who defeated the Black Law, which was brought entirely in favour of the BJP under the guise of delimitation, as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, I offer my thanks,” he said. Stalin said the delimitation bill identified Tamil Nadu’s friends and traitors, adding that the bill’s failure to pass is a crushing defeat for AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami even before the elections. “It has been proven that Palaniswami is an agent of Delhi,” he noted. Observing what has been achieved was only a ‘partial victory’, Stalin said, “Just as it was done in 2001, a constitutional amendment must be brought now to postpone the delimitation for the next 25 years until 2051.” He urged that the BJP government must immediately implement the Women’s Reservation Law which was supported by his party in 2023 without any conditions. “Only that will constitute a complete victory,” he said. Meanwhile, Palaniswami stated that the state had lost a golden opportunity to increase its political power as the delimitation bill was defeated in Parliament. “We have not only lost the golden opportunity given by PM Narendra Modi to get 50% more seats, but MK Stalin, being a puppet and not understanding the crux of the opportunity, blindly opposed it,” he said. “Because of your mindless opposition to the Bill, the delimitation would be based on 2026 census and we will lose even more MP seats,” added EPS. He also recalled the 1988 defeat of a similar bill introduced in Parliament by former chief minister J Jayalalithaa during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure as Prime Minister. “Back then as well, your own INDIA alliance partners ensured that the Bill was not passed.” Union finance minister Sitharaman said Palaniswami effectively captured how the opposition, led by the Congress and Stalin, has allegedly allowed Tamil Nadu to lose out on an opportunity for women’s representation in the Parliament and assembly. “Blind hate has damaged the prospects of the State in general and women in particular. Due to the short-sighted, stubborn, visionless and anti-women DMK, Tamil Nadu may end up losing more, instead of gaining,” she said in an X post.. “You refused to be a part of a win-win proposition as assured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” she added.