Anbumani Ramadoss, the president of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), slammed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its allies for thwarting the “Women’s Reservation Bill” in Parliament, labeling it a severe betrayal to women. The defeat of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill on April 17, aimed at redistributing Lok Sabha seats based on the 2011 Census to enable women’s reservation, was strongly condemned by Anbumani during a press conference. He accused the DMK of obstructing the bill and criticized Chief Minister M. K. Stalin for burning a copy of the legislation in protest, demanding legal action against him.
Alleging that Tamil Nadu women would not forgive the DMK for this act, Anbumani emphasized that the state could have significantly increased female representation in the legislature if the bill had passed. By 2031, he projected that Tamil Nadu might have had about 20 women Members of Parliament out of 59 seats and up to 117 women MLAs. Anbumani also questioned the DMK’s opposition to increasing parliamentary constituencies by 50% nationwide, citing support from Narendra Modi and Amit Shah for such a move, which he believed would benefit Tamil Nadu akin to northern states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
In addition, Anbumani accused the DMK of hindering measures to enhance women’s political representation while simultaneously addressing safety concerns faced by women in Tamil Nadu. He criticized Chief Minister M. K. Stalin for engaging in personal attacks against him and Edappadi K. Palaniswami instead of focusing on governance achievements. Anbumani highlighted the launch of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) by the late Vijayakanth to counter the DMK and welcomed recent criticisms of the government by party leader Premalatha Vijayakanth.
Anbumani expressed doubts about actor-politician Vijay’s party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), securing seats despite potentially garnering a significant vote share. He urged Vijay’s supporters not to waste their votes and instead support the AIADMK-led alliance to defeat the DMK.
