in the context of the delimitation of parliament constituencies
Though the federal set up is one of the basic features of the constitution of India as propounded in the interpretation of Higher Courts but in practice, the constitutional mandate is neither federal nor unitary but solidly inclined towards unitary one. In spite of it, the federal set up is believed to be the form of the Indian government by non-Hindi speaking states especially the southern states. Many Articles of the Constitution of India being taken as supporting overtures towards federal one and this popular and judicial interpretations makes even the rulers with unitary set up in the union Government, to make India as federal in their functioning and afraid of destabilizing such a vast belief of non-Hindi speaking states especially the southern states. This trust is the first victim of lethal delimitation of parliamentary constituencies based on existing population ratios . Once this belief and trust is blown up, this will be the starting point in implied degeneration of diverse languages and cultures of India especially South Indian languages and its unique culture. Thus, language and culture being the source of identity, is the concern of southern states.
The Constitution of India empowers the parliament absolutely and thereby, the brutal majority of any one region or any one language will result in imposing the said regions intentions or the said one language people wish in a legal manner through the parliament.. Taking the number of seats at 543 and delimitation is based on the notified population figures, southern states could lose over 20 seats, on the other hand northern states will add up with these 20 states. Even with an increase to 848 seats, Uttar Pradesh and other Hindi states will gain more than 150 seats and this will tilt the balance of regional powers within the parliament.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured that no southern state would lose seats but would instead gain additional constituencies on a pro-rata basis but till today, neither Union Home Minister nor the Union Government has clarified whether the pro-rata distribution will be based on the current seat percentage or on the population figures. The Union Government has notified the census and has also suggested that the survey would be in digital mode and that means the census will be expedited and will be completed soon. Once the census is completed, the constitutional mandate under Article 82 will come into play that upon the completion of each census, the allocation of seats in the House of the People to the States and the division of each State into territorial constituencies shall be readjusted by such authority. If the union Government does not contemplate any amendment of this Article, the allocation of seats are necessarily only on the basis of the census of the year 2026 and if the said census figures are going to be the basis of any delimitation, there will be drastic reduction of parliamentary seats to southern states which will result in their power being trimmed.
In 2019, an article in Carnegie Endownment and international peace, using the 2001 and 2011 Censuses, the paper projected state population figures out to 2026 and repeat this calculation, illustrating the severity of malapportionment by the time the freeze on reapportionment expires and the article also contemplated revised seat allocation for each state with their projected figures as follows:
| States | Current seats | Proportional seats (2011) | Proportional seats (2026) |
| Tamilnadu | 39 | 32 | 31 |
| A.P., &Telangana | 42 | 37 | 34 |
| Kerala | 20 | 15 | 20 |
| Odisha | 21 | 18 | 18 |
| West Bengal | 42 | 40 | 38 |
| Karnataka | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| H.P | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Punjab | 13 | 12 | 12 |
| Uttarkhand | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Assam | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| J&K | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Chattisgarh | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| Delhi | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Maharastra | 48 | 49 | 48 |
| Gujarat | 26 | 27 | 27 |
| Haryana | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| Jharkhand | 14 | 15 | 15 |
| M.P | 29 | 32 | 33 |
| Rajasthan | 25 | 30 | 31 |
| Bihar | 40 | 46 | 50 |
| U.P | 80 | 88 | 91 |
The Hindu Newspaper in an Article titled What are the issues around delimitation ? Explained in its 6th March ,2025 paper , projects as follows:
Increasing the number of seats of Lok sabha will also does not solve the problem as even the increased seats are to be allocated in accordance with the population of each state and mere increase of seats also will cure the apprehensions of southern states. It is only the southern states will be affected as vividly clear from the above table. There is no perceptible change in any other states and even states like Assam, West Bengal, Maharastra ,Punjab are only marginally affected by delimitation unlike the southern states where it is very drastic. Thus, any delimitation with the present population ratio, will substantially reduce the voice of the southern states in parliament of India.
The above said The Hindu article states that “ The population explosion that happened in our country during the last five decades has been uneven with some States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan having a greater increase than States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh”. Implementation of the family planning schemes among the southern states is the main cause for reduction in the population of the southern states whereas the other states especially Hindi speaking states, have not been implementing the family planning programs for population explosion in those states. This uneven population explosion can not be corrected instantly and therefore; southern states need a complete protection plan to safeguard their political rights prior to any delimitation process.
Therefore, if this is not corrected early or there is not going to be any opposition or resentment, the real danger will blossom like a flower, but such a smooth outcome is poisonous to the nation’s federal structure and destroying the language and identity of the non-Hindi especially Southern states. Therefore, this seminar attempts to explore the following:
- As the delimitation has not been announced, it does not mean that there is no danger of reduction of southern states weightage in the parliament. Therefore, it urges people especially people of south India, to raise their voice against delimitation of constituencies with the present population ratios.
- Population explosion in Southern states or strict family planning methods in Hindi speaking states is an answer to the problem faced by delimitation.
- Amendment of Article 82 of the Constitution of India which demands delimitation on the basis of each census.
- India being a federal country, both the upper and lower houses of the Indian parliament have to be equally divided among all the states in an equal ratio.
In the Conference
on Justice for South India in
The delimitation of Parliament Constituencies
at Chennai on 13.07.2025.
Tamizhaga Murpokku Makkal Katchi
www.tmmkatchi.com
