Chennai: On the day chief minister C Joseph Vijay softened his stand on delimitation, TVK’s ally Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) passed a resolution sticking to its decision against the exercise to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats.The special general council of TNCC chaired by its president B Manickam Tagore in Chennai on Thursday, demanded that the existing 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, finalised based on the 1971 Census, be retained. TNCC said that 33% reservation for women should be provided in Parliament within the existing strength.“Expanding the number of Lok Sabha constituencies based on the 2011 Census would amount to punishing the southern states that successfully controlled population growth,” a resolution passed at the general council said.Resolutions were also passed on issues including Mekedatu dam, state rights and social justice at its meeting. On the Cauvery issue, the TNCC opposed Karnataka’s proposed Mekedatu dam and said it would support all efforts by the Tamil Nadu govt to protect the state’s Cauvery water rights. It also opposed the Centre granting permission for preparation of a detailed project report for the dam. The resolution said the proposed dam, with a capacity of 67.15 TMC and an estimated cost of ₹9,000 crore, would affect Tamil Nadu’s interests and urged that the project be stopped.
