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The Parliament’s three-day special session, beginning April 16, is anticipated to witness intense ruckus as it proposes to increase the strength of Lok Sabha from 545 to 850 members, remove the requirement that delimitation be done based on post-2026 census data, which means the Parliament can go for the delimitation exercise basing on the existing census data. In the delimitation exercise, the cap on elected members from states would be increased to 815 and UTs to 35.
Political analysts said the MPs from seven states, majorly belonging to South India, in all likelihood would raise their voice against the delimitation exercise as they allege it is a ploy by the BJP-led NDA government to weaken the voice of the southern states.
Telangana CM Revanth Reddy is leading the anti-delimitation campaign calling for a united southern response. He had written letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing the delimitation, and to the CMs of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to unitedly raise their voice against the exercise.
He sought an all-party meet on increase of Lok Sabha seats and a national consensus before its implementation. At the same time, he demanded for immediate implementation of 33% reservation for women in Parliament without linking it to the expansion of LS seats.
He also argued that the three separate issues of women’s reservation, delimitation and increasing the number of seats are being wrongly clubbed together. He said that increasing the number of seats based on population would widen the gap between the low-population southern states and high-population northern states. Instead, he proposed a hybrid model for seat allocation wherein half seats should be allocated based on population and the remaining based on performance of the states.
He expressed concern that the southern states which contribute significantly towards the economic growth of the country and also secure top positions in the human development indices would lose their voice in the Parliament. He also felt that the move to increase the seats solely based on population was tantamount to rewarding high population growth.
The increase of seats solely basing on population would marginalize the southern states in their own country and could have impact on the integrity of the nation, he warned. Highlighting the economic discrimination being done to the southern states in the name of development, Reddy said that delimitation exercised will add political discrimination too.
Instead, he suggested a ‘hybrid model’ for seat increase, proposing 50% seats should be distributed on a pro-rata basis and the remaining 50% based on Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), thus rewarding states contributing to the nation’s economy. He proposed that of the total 272 seats to be increased, 136 be allocated on a pro-rata basis and the remaining 136 be allocated on GSDP.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also raised the ante sharply, by drawing other Opposition-ruled states into the debate. Stalin alleged that the delimitation exercise, scheduled after the freeze on Lok Sabha seats ends later in 2026, can reduce his state’s seats in Lok Sabha, thus reducing their significance in decision-making.
Opposition parties argue that removal of constitutional freeze (initiating the delimitation exercise post 2026 Census) on readjustment of seats will upset the federal balance.
Critics said that BJP-led NDA government at the Centre alone would benefit from the Delimitation and for the same reason, the BJP leaders are pushing for it. Being a national party, the BJP is trying to increase the number of LS seats in the Hindi heartland, as it would benefit from it. At the same time, reducing the number of LS constituencies in the South during Delimitation would reduce the significance of the southern states, they said.
This is mainly because the southern states had successfully implemented the anti-population measures and controlled the population in their states. The leaders from the southern states fear that as the population is less, the boundaries of the MP constituencies would be expanded in the south, thereby reducing the number of LS seats, and at the same time, increase the number of LS constituencies in the Hindi states, considering the heavy population in those areas.
At present, some parliamentary constituencies have been demarcated with a population of between 20 lakh- 30 lakh in the Hindi belt. Meanwhile, in Union Territories, there is a population of 50,000 but it is considered only as one Lok Sabha seat. Though legally Delimitation cannot be taken up before 2026 Census, Revanth gave vent to his fear and convened meetings for political parties. The southern states complained that they are being punished for successfully controlling population and aiding the country’s economic growth.
Link between population and delimitation
Actually, a decision on delimitation at the national level was scheduled to be taken in 1971 but through an amendment in 1976, it was pushed to 2001 and in 2001, it was pushed to 2026, through an Constitutional amendment.
In 2001, the decision on delimitation was frozen to promote population control measures in the states. Now, the states having less population, mostly from south of India, are crying foul that they are being penalized, by stretching the borders of the constituencies to accommodate representation of more population. In effect, the number of LS constituencies would reduce (compared to North), which could threaten the significance of southern states in taking decisions.
If Lok Sabha seats stay at 543, southern states, Odisha, Assam, and some northern states like Punjab may lose seats in delimitation. Even if seats increase, their share may drop percentage-wise. Southern states urged Narendra Modi to extend the 1971 population-based allocation for 30 more years, while DMK demanded proportional rise for Tamil Nadu if seats are increased.
They demanded that Tamil Nadu’s existing percentage of seats, 7.18 per cent of the total, must not be reduced under any circumstances. Stalin hosted a JAC meeting with leading politicians from 7 states on March 22 in Chennai.
Meanwhile, critics argued that linking the women’s reservation Bill with delimitation is only for a public display purpose while the main agenda for the three-day special session of Parliament is delimitation and redistribution of seats.
Tags Delimitation
