Delimitation is a design to take away the power of people of Tamil Nadu, says Rahul Gandhi

Alleging that delimitation is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conspiracy designed to take power away from the people, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday (August 1, 2026) said that any political party supporting the Delimitation Bill in Parliament is a 21st-century Ettappan (a historical figure seen as a traitor) and would be considered a betrayer of the people of Tamil Nadu.

Speaking to presspersons in Mamallapuram during a visit to the State, Mr. Gandhi said that no Tamil party should support delimitation. “Delimitation is designed to disenfranchise, take away power from the people of Tamil Nadu. This is a BJP conspiracy. Anybody who supports delimitation – betraying Tamil Nadu, betraying the future of Tamil Nadu, and allowing RSS/BJP to attack the people and future of Tamil Nadu – is a 21st century Ettappan. No Tamil should support delimitation. Every single Tamil party and national party should defeat the delimitation Bill in Parliament,” the Congress leader said.

Mr. Gandhi also met the grieving families of NEET aspirants from Tamil Nadu who ended their lives, and said that “nothing is more painful than seeing a parent grieve their child”. “Behind every young life lost is a family carrying pain that will never leave them – and serious questions about a broken education system. Leaked papers. Cancelled exams. Years of preparation destroyed overnight. Our students are told to work honestly in a system that is not honest with them,” he said.

Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his response to the NEET issue, Mr. Gandhi said that the Prime Minister has not met a single grieving parent and has not sat with a single student whose future was stolen by a leaked paper, but still has the audacity to speak of “forgiving” students. “India’s students do not need his forgiveness. They are owed his apology,” Mr. Gandhi said.

Mr. Gandhi also met the Tamil Nadu Congress’s District Committee presidents and urged them to strengthen the party in the State and not indulge in factionalism that has plagued it for several decades now. He has also reportedly said that only good performance as DCC presidents will help them keep their party posts.

A DCC president, who requested anonymity, said: “Rahul Gandhi asked us to strengthen the party at the organisational level. We have been asked to organise training programmes, similar to what we went through, to lower-level office bearers. He spoke to us about how to take on the BJP and asked us not to focus on one single leader. He also indirectly told us that DMK does not care about anything beyond Tamil Nadu’s borders. He also highlighted that India is a union and encouraged us to focus on language and cultural rights.”