March 1, 2025 – Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is the latest leader from the South to join in the protests against the Centre’s proposed delimitation exercise. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has already made his reservations felt by sparking discussions and debates on the impending delimitation exercise for the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.

Delimitation means the process of redrawing and fixing the number of seats and boundaries of territorial constituencies in each State for the Lok Sabha and Legislative assemblies. It is a process that reflects the changes in population over a period of time. It also includes fixing the seats to be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in these Houses. The process is carried out by the Delimitation Commission which is appointed by the President of India and works with the Election Commission.

Tamil Nadu is concerned that the exercise could hurt the State’s representation in Parliament if the Union Government intends the process to be only proportionately representative of each State’s population. Stalin has criticised it for a potential reduction in the Southern States' representation saying that Tamil Nadu had carried out successful family planning efforts but as a result of this process, could lose eight seats. Other States with reduced fertility rates, such as Kerala and Karnataka, will also be affected.

South's Concerns

Home Minister Amit Shah has said that there will be no “reduction on a pro-rata basis” for Southern States and that the States would get their “rightful share”. But South leaders say Shah’s statement has little clarity on whether their proportion of representatives will be retained after delimitation. They fear losing representation due to slower population growth.

As per Article 82 and 170 of the Constitution, the number of seats readjustments will take place after each Census. Such an exercise was carried out after the 1951, 1961 and 1971 Census. And with each Census, the number of seats went up in tandem with the growth in population. This was:

• 1951 Census: Population: 36.1 crore; 494 seats (7.3 lakh people per seat)
• 1961 Census: Population: 43.9 crore; 522 seats (8.4 lakh per seat)
• 1971 Census: Population: 54.8 crore; 543 seats (10.1 lakh per seat)

After 1971, there has been no change in the number of Lok Sabha seats. In 1976, the family planning campaign by the government was in full force. Hence, in order to get the accurate graph of population increase, the Census was put on hold for 25 years till 2000 by the 42nd Amendment Act. Again in 2001 it was postponed by another 25 years till 2026 by the 84th Amendment Act.

Census First?

As per the 84th constitutional Amendment, the Delimitation exercise should be carried out on the basis of the Census data after 2026. Protest by States is against the Centre’s move to implement the Delimitation exercise without conducting the Census first. It is suggested that the government must expedite the Census to avoid allegations that it has deliberately delayed it to facilitate an earlier and controversial delimitation.

The significant increase in population since 1973 should lead to an increased number of representatives, and, therefore, a higher number of seats, especially in North India’s heavily populated States. Currently, Southern States together hold 129 of 543 Lok Sabha seats. However, with proportional increase, this percentage representation will reduce further. This is the reason for the scepticism among the leaders from down South.

Stalin has called an all-party meeting in Chennai on March 5 to discuss the delimitation exercise.

Telangana CM Reddy says: "Yes, 100% I will participate if such a meeting is convened...in fact, I raised this issue at the national level and recently said this in Kerala too".

With Media Inputs