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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has urged his counterparts in seven states to form a Joint Action Committee against the Union government’s proposed delimitation exercise to redraw parliamentary constituencies. He invited them to a meeting in Chennai on March 22, warning that states with successful population control would be unfairly penalised with reduced Lok Sabha representation.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh supported Stalin, declaring that states excelling in family planning should not be disadvantaged. The Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution against the exercise in February 2024, amid concerns that it could favour northern states. Stalin recently claimed that Tamil Nadu could lose eight Lok Sabha seats on account of the exercise, though Union Home Minister Amit Shah later denied this.

At an all-party meeting in Chennai on Wednesday, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Congress, the Left Front and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam united to oppose delimitation. The Bharatiya Janata Party and a few regional parties boycotted the event. Stalin called for the 1971 census to remain the basis for seat allocation for the next 30 years. Read on.


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The Manipur Police has said that more than 1,000 weapons were surrendered during the two-week amnesty for returning looted and illegal weapons in the state, which ended on Thursday. Since May 2023, Manipur has been mired in an ethnic conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities that has left at least 258 dead and displaced more than 59,000.

About 6,000 weapons were reportedly looted from state armouries after the conflict began. About 1,200 of these weapons had been recovered earlier in security operations. They include handguns, machine guns, grenades, mortars, Indian Small Arms System rifles and AK-56 rifles. Bulletproof jackets, helmets, radio sets, camouflage uniforms, boots and locally made mortars have also been surrendered.

On February 27, armed Meitei group Arambai Tenggol surrendered 246 weapons in Imphal, marking the largest set of surrillegally-held weapons surrendered in Manipur since the conflict began. On February 28, the governor extended the deadline to return looted weapons till Friday after groups demanded more time to surrender them. Read on.

The Karnataka High Court has quashed the Enforcement Directorate’s summons to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife, BM Parvathi, and state minister BS Suresh in the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority scam. Suresh has not been accused in the case but the central agency had sought to question him.

The case involves the allotment of 14 housing plots in Mysuru’s Vijaynagar area to Parvathi, in 2021, in exchange for 3.1 acres of land that were allegedly acquired illegally from Dalit families. In September, the Lokayukta police registered an FIR against Siddaramaiah, Parvathi and others, but later found “no evidence” against them.

Parvathi returned the plots in October, rejecting allegations that they were used to launder money. The Enforcement Directorate, however, maintained that the case involved corruption beyond the land allotment. The central agency had summoned Parvathi and Suresh to appear before it on January 28. In February, the High Court reserved its verdict on their plea challenging the summons. Read on.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin to introduce medical and engineering education in Tamil, countering allegations that the Centre was imposing Hindi on the state.

Speaking at a Central Industrial Security Force event in Ranipet, Shah said that CISF aspirants could now take exams in regional languages, including Tamil. His remarks came amid a dispute between Stalin and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the three-language mandate of the National Education Policy 2020. The three-language mandate refers to students being taught English, Hindi and the native language of a state.

Stalin has opposed the policy, arguing that Artificial Intelligence-driven translation makes it unnecessary for students to learn an extra language. Pradhan denied any imposition of Hindi, blaming political motives for Stalin’s opposition. Meanwhile, the Centre has withheld Rs 2,152 crore in education funds, linking their release to Tamil Nadu’s adoption of the three-language formula. Read on.

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