Stalin Urges TN MPs to raise Manipur issue in Special Parliament Session

Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin called upon the Members of Parliament from the State to raise issues like the Manipur riots and the irregularities flagged by the CAG in the special Parliamentary session, starting on September 18, and put the BJP government on the mat.

Besides presiding over a meeting of DMK MPs of both the Houses of Parliament at Anna Arivalayam on Saturday, Stalin put out a message on X, saying, ‘it’s time to unite and make a resounding impact.’

‘Our mission is clear,’ he said, and urged the MPs not to be swayed by the diversion tactics of BJP but to stand strong, raise their voices, and prioritise pressing issues like Manipur violence and the flagged irregularities in the CAG report in unison with the members of the INDIA alliance.

‘Together, we can defeat the conspiracies of the BJP and ensure justice for our great republic,’ he said.

The DMK MPs passed a slew of resolutions, including one demanding the introduction of the Bill providing for 33 per cent reservation for women in elected bodies like Parliament and State Assemblies, which the BJP had been dodging for a long time.

The meeting urged the Union Government to give exemption to the State from NEET by clearing the Bill passed by the State Assembly. It was a betrayal of the State by the BJP to have not given the nod for the bill that had been sent to the President twice, it said. The MPs would take up the matter in Parliament, it said.   

The MPs also wanted the Union government to bring in a law to provide for reservation in the private sector, provision of quota for OBCs in promotions in government departments, increase the income ceiling for OBCs, falling under the creamy layer concept, to Rs 25 lakh, and follow social justice in the appointment of judges to the High Courts and the Supreme Court.

Removing the 50 per cent slab for reservation, allocating funds for the various schemes in Tamil Nadu like the Metro Rail phase 2 project, doing away with the Viswakarma Yojana that sought to perpetuate caste-based vocations would be the other issues that the MPs would raise in Parliament.

It stressed on the need for the MPs to work in tandem with the colleagues belonging to the parties that are part of the INDIA alliance in opposing the BJP and also fighting for the rights of the State.

The meeting regretted that the BJP that came to rule with the promise of changing India had only tried to change the name of the country to Bharat as it felt intimidated by the formation of the INDIA alliance.

The other resolutions related to demanding the Union Government to put pressure on the Karnataka government to release Cauvery Water to Tamil Nadu on the basis of the orders by the Supreme Court and other monitoring organisations.

The meeting also expressed its gratitude to the State government for introducing the scheme to pay over one crore housewives an amount of Rs 1000 every month in recognition of the unpaid work they do in their homes.