Tamil Nadu’s political landscape seemed sharply divided over the contentious issue of parliamentary delimitation, with the ruling TVK government rallying its allies for an outright rejection of any redrawing of constituencies, while the DMK stuck to its long-standing demand for a “fair” exercise that protects the state’s representation.The opinions were expressed at an all-party meeting called by Chief Minister C Vijay Joseph on the contentious Delimitation Bill on Saturday. The meeting, however, was boycotted by a majority of MPs, including the DMK.The MPs belonging to the TVK’s alliance parties, the Congress, VCK, MDMK and IUML, and friendly parties, the CPI and CPI(M), passed a resolution against the Delimitation Bill at the meeting.The meeting had been called by Vijay to determine a unified state response to the proposed delimitation exercise, which had raised concerns over the potential reduction of parliamentary seats for southern states.Out of the 57 MPs from Tamil Nadu, only 20 were expected to attend the session, with 37 choosing to stay away from the meeting, signalling a lack of consensus on the chief minister’s initiative.The DMK boycotted the meeting, with all 30 of its MPs absent. The main opposition AIADMK also skipped the event, with its four MPs staying away.The parliamentarians, who skipped the meeting, accused the TVK-led government of attempting to divert attention from the Cauvery water sharing issue.Speaking on the party boycotting the meet, DMK MP Kanimozhi said the discussion was unnecessary, alleging that it had been called to divert attention from the Cauvery issue.The Cauvery dispute is a decades-old disagreement over the sharing of river water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It is currently in focus over Karnataka’s proposed Mekedatu balancing reservoir project, which Tamil Nadu has opposed. Vijay has proposed dialogue between the two states to resolve the issue.Kanimozhi further added that no official announcement from the Union government has been made regarding the tabling of the delimitation Bill in the current Parliament session, adding that since the amended draft is not even available, there is nothing new to discuss.“When the whole state was protesting for Cauvery water with the political parties insisting the government to convene an all-party meeting on the Mekedatu dam issue, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led government remained silent on the demand,” she said.Talking to the media after the meeting, Congress leader Karti Chidambaram said the participants were clear and have unanimously decided to “freeze the Lok Sabha seats at 543” and not tinker with the current Lok Sabha seats from the state.On the opposition parties skipping the meeting, MDMK Principal Secretary Durai Vaiko said, “It is very unfortunate that the opposition parties like DMK and AIADMK boycotted this very important meeting… because this delimitation amendment Bill, if passed, would greatly affect the interests of Tamil Nadu. Even with 39 MPs, we are not able to get our due share with regard to finance… If this delimitation Bill is passed, then all the southern states, like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, stand to lose because it is based on population…”“Do you think the delimitation commission will function in the interest of Tamil Nadu?… This 50% proportionate increase is a sort of a gimmick by the BJP government… Even if they give this 50%, it will be reversed, as per the Constitution… the delimitation commission is going to take all the important decisions regarding this…” he added.The meeting comes amid reports of a renewed effort by the Modi-led central government to get the Delimitation Bill passed with speculation gathering momentum that it may reintroduce the legislation in the upcoming monsoon session.Reports say the government is willing to bring the Bill during a special three-day session after Independence Day.