Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is all set to chair a meeting of MPs of the state to deliberate on the union government's proposed delimitation exercise and Parliamentarians belonging to the DMK are set to boycott it.
Vijay is scheduled to chair the meeting at Kalaivanar Arangam here at 3 pm on Saturday to deliberate on the proposal of the Centre to carry out delimitation and its likely impact on the state.
Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary M Sai Kumar had sent separate invitations to the MPs on August 6 and 7, government sources said.
DMK sources said their MPs will not take part in the discussion to be led by the chief minister.
Further, they said that the party is "sticking to its stand that it will participate if the government convenes an all-party meeting on the Mekedatu issue." A party MP told PTI that inviting MPs is a flawed move and the government in the first place must have invited the party's top leadership.
"The MPs have a mandate to follow the party line. This meeting is unnecessary. DMK is fully committed to protecting Tamil Nadu's interests and our party chief M K Stalin is the first to raise his voice against delimitation and he has spoken and fought against it in order to protect the interests of Tamil Nadu," he said.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore said in a statement: "Those who place their politics above Tamil Nadu’s interests may choose not to attend." But those who put Tamil Nadu first, and politics second, will attend the all-party meeting convened by the chief minister.
"This is not about party politics. It is about Tamil Nadu’s rights, interests and future. The people of Tamil Nadu are watching. And they will remember who stood with Tamil Nadu when it mattered," Tagore said.
Congress is an ally of Tamil Nadu's ruling TVK.
On Friday, when Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin had raised the Mekedatu issue, CM Vijay said that it was he who proposed holding talks with neighbouring Karnataka on Cauvery issue (Mekedatu), considering some hope for a positive outcome.
The chief minister had declared in the Assembly that he did not wish to indulge in cheap politics on the issue.
