Chennai: Chief Minister M.K. Stalin Playfully Remarks, 'Why Should We Have a Small Family?' Amid Delimitation Concerns

Chennai: A day after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu called for increasing the population in the south, his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin too in a lighter vein contended that the threat of delimitation of parliamentary constituencies was prompting a rethink on having smaller families. 

Presiding over a mass wedding of 31 couples, performed under the auspices of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, Stalin said, in the olden days elders would bless newly weds to flourish ‘begetting 16’. However the ‘16’ then meant forms of ‘riches’ including cow, land, spouse and children. 

“When we are now facing a situation where the number of seats in parliament (for Tamil Nadu) could decrease (post-delimitation), the question arises as to why we should have a small family. This has made us think as to we should not beget 16 children. We should not forget this too,” he said and went on to add, “Be that as it may, the newly weds please give your children beautiful Tamil names.”