Chennai, Aug 19:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah was expected to arrive in Chennai on Wednesday evening to chair a meeting of Southern states to be held at Fishermen’s Cove hotel at Kovalam on the ECR.
The meeting to be held on August 19 and 20, was expected to be attended by the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
The meeting is being held amid growing tensions between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the Cauvery river water and Mekedatu dam issues.
However, the official programme schedule including the itinerary of Mr Amit Shah was yet to be announced.
Though the Tamil Nadu Assembly Budget Session was underway, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is also expected to participate along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Puducherry Chief Minister N.Rangasamy.
Among the major issues likely to come up for discussion are inter-state river water sharing, disputes and challenges along state borders, Centre-state relations, eradicating drug menace and martiime security, besides law and order concerns.
The proposed meeting assumes particular significance against the backdrop of concerns in southern states over the possible impact of the proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies, which has triggered fears of reduction in Parliamentary representation if the exercise was done based on present population, that could possibly penalise southern states for effectively implementing population control measures.
A resolution had already bee adopted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly calling for a freeze in Lok Sabha seats to be retained at the existing 543 until there is a broad consensus on the issue. The Chief Minister has also forwarded a copy of the resolution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi insisting that there should not be any change in Tamil Nadu’s present 7.18 per cent representation in Parliament and extend the freeze on delimitation for a further period of 25 years.
The delimitation issue was expected to receive considerable attention during the meeting.
The conference, reportedly being held in Tamil Nadu after a long gap, could provide a platform for greater coordination among the southern states on issues concerning Centre-state relations, resource sharing and political representation.