Bengaluru, Mar 13 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday extended support to the DMK-led opposition against the proposed delimitation of Parliamentary constituencies and requested his Deputy, DK Shivakumar, to attend the meeting in Chennai to discuss the issue.

In his letter dated March 13 to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Siddaramaiah stated, "Although I would like to participate in the meeting, due to my prior commitments, I am unable to do so."

He also said, "I have received your letter dated March 7, which raises crucial issues regarding the autonomy of states, with serious implications for the principles governing our polity. In particular, the issue of delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies based on new population benchmarks needs to be discussed at length by like-minded states."

Acknowledging the importance of the March 22 meeting, the Chief Minister stated, "I have requested Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to participate in the deliberations."

On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Forest Minister K Ponmudy and Rajya Sabha MP Mohammed Abdullah Ismail met Siddaramaiah at his residence, Cauvery, to discuss the ongoing protests against the "anti-democratic and anti-Southern stance of the central government."

During the meeting with the DMK delegation, the Chief Minister condemned the Centre’s alleged attempt to "weaken democracy and federalism."

The DMK has been reaching out to leaders of various parties, including those within the NDA, such as Chandrababu Naidu, to discuss the delimitation issue.

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Palakkad (Kerala) (PTI): Five people have been arrested for allegedly beating to death a Jharkhand native on suspicion of theft near Walayar here a day ago, police said on Friday.

The arrests were formally recorded late Thursday night and all the accused have been booked for the offence of murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, an officer of Walayar police station said.

The deceased -- Ramnarayan Bhayar (31) -- was working as a labourer in the Walayar area.

According to police, Bhayar was attacked by a group of men on Wednesday evening, alleging that he was involved in a theft at Kizhakeattappallam near Walayar.

As per the FIR, the incident occurred before 7.40 pm, and the injured Bhayar was rushed to the Palakkad District Government Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Police said a detailed investigation was underway to ascertain the sequence of events leading to the incident.