Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay urged the Union government on Thursday to guarantee that no state will lose parliamentary seats under a proposed delimitation exercise, to exempt Tamil Nadu from the national medical entrance test, and to tighten laws against substance abuse among youth.
Vijay made the appeal at the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council in Mahabalipuram, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. It was his first appearance at the council since becoming chief minister and his first formal platform to place Tamil Nadu’s demands directly before the Centre.
As vice chairman of the meeting, a post held on rotation by a member state chief minister, Vijay spoke on delimitation, medical admissions and narcotics control, three issues that have shaped state politics over the past year.
Vijay seeks written guarantee on delimitation
Vijay told the council that a freeze on Lok Sabha seat allocation, in place since the 1971 Census, is due to end soon, and that the Delimitation Bill, 2026, could cut the number of seats held by southern states if population is used as the sole criterion for redrawing constituencies. He asked the Centre for a clear legislative guarantee that no state will lose representation once the exercise is completed.
The Southern States have been at the forefront of population stabilisation and human development, Vijay told the gathering, arguing that states which successfully controlled population growth should not be penalised with fewer seats in Parliament.
He was not alone in raising the issue. Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar asked the council to pass a resolution committing to retain all 543 existing Lok Sabha seats and to use the 1971 Census, rather than any future headcount, as the basis for delimitation. Karnataka officials have estimated that a purely population based exercise could cut the state’s seats from 28 to 26, while Tamil Nadu could see its tally fall from 39 to 31 and Kerala from 20 to 12, even as larger northern states gain seats.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and the chief ministers of Kerala and Karnataka were present as the issue was discussed at length. Shah has previously stated publicly that no state will lose a single seat under the exercise, a claim opposition leaders in the south have repeatedly disputed, calling for the government to specify whether the 1971 Census or a more recent population count will be used.
NEET exemption demand repeated
Vijay renewed Tamil Nadu’s decade long opposition to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, telling the council that the exam puts rural and low income students at a disadvantage because they lack access to the coaching available in cities. He asked the Union government to let Tamil Nadu admit students to MBBS, BDS and AYUSH courses under the state quota purely on Class 12 marks.
I urge the Union Government to permit Tamil Nadu to fill all seats, Vijay said, referring to state quota seats in medical and allied health courses, adding that the state’s existing admission method has a proven record.
He also repeated Tamil Nadu’s long standing demand to move education from the Concurrent List back to the State List, which would give states full control over admission criteria for professional courses. Successive Tamil Nadu governments, including the previous DMK administration, have pressed the same demand for close to ten years, arguing that a single national entrance test does not account for differences in school curricula across states.
Centre urged to act on substance abuse
Vijay flagged a third issue that received less public attention but carries direct public health implications. He asked the Centre to strengthen regulation of online prescription drug sales, crack down on unauthorised sellers, and review existing laws to deal with new patterns of substance abuse among young people.
I urge the Government of India to strengthen the regulatory framework governing prescription sales, Vijay said, adding that enforcement against the unauthorised online sale of medicines needed to be stricter.
The demand follows an expanded anti narcotics drive launched by the Tamil Nadu government earlier this year, after officials found that synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine, MDMA and misused pharmaceutical opioids were being sold through encrypted messaging apps and online marketplaces rather than through traditional street level networks. National Crime Records Bureau data has shown Tamil Nadu among the states with a high number of cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, a trend state officials have cited to justify tighter federal rules on prescription sales.
Vijay also called for closer coordination between states on interstate drug trafficking, along with cooperation on blue economy projects and coastal security, both relevant to Tamil Nadu’s long coastline and its exposure to maritime smuggling routes.
Wider agenda at the council meeting
The Southern Zonal Council was established under Sections 15 to 22 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, to resolve disputes and coordinate policy between the Centre and member states. Amit Shah chairs the council as Union Home Minister, while the chief minister of a member state holds the vice chairman post on rotation, a role Vijay occupied for this session.
Beyond the three demands Vijay raised, the meeting’s agenda covered fiscal reforms and broader interstate coordination among the six member states, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Puducherry, along with the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep as special invitees. Officials from each state, including chief secretaries and senior advisers, took part alongside the chief ministers.
Political backdrop to the demands
The demands come against a backdrop of sustained friction between the Centre and southern states over delimitation and education policy. Tamil Nadu’s assembly was among the first in the country to formally oppose delimitation based on current population figures, passing a resolution against the move in February 2024. The state has also convened multiple joint meetings with other southern states to coordinate a common position ahead of the exercise, which is expected to be taken up once the current seat freeze lapses.
Shah, in earlier remarks, accused political rivals in Tamil Nadu of spreading misinformation on delimitation, while state leaders have maintained that the Centre has yet to clarify the exact population baseline it intends to use. Thursday’s meeting did not produce a joint resolution on the issue, but it placed the demands of Tamil Nadu and other southern states formally on record before the Union Home Minister.
