KTR wades into delimitation debate, says people’s movement will arise in the South if it loses seats in Lok Sabha

He was responding to reports indicating a decline in the number of Lok Sabha constituencies in the southern states following delimitation if seats are revised on the basis of the projected population for 2026.

“This delimitation (if the numbers reported are right) will lead to a strong people’s movement in the entire Southern India. We are all proud Indians and representatives of the best performing states of India,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.

Also read: What does India’s rising population spell for South India?

‘Hope wisdom prevails’

“We will not remain mute spectators if the voices and representation of our people in the country’s highest democratic forum are suppressed. Hope wisdom prevails and Delhi is listening,” said Rama Rao, son of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

This delimitation (if the numbers reported are right) will lead to a strong people’s movement in the entire Southern India

We are all proud Indians & representatives of the best performing states of India

We will not remain mute spectators if the voices and representation of… https://t.co/RJcRZT2BTk

— KTR (@KTRBRS) September 25, 2023

The delimitation process — or the readjustment of seat allocation in the Lok Sabha (and the state Assemblies) to represent changes in population — would ensure more MPs for the northern states than the southern states.

India conducted its last delimitation exercise that changed the state-wise composition of the Lok Sabha in 1976, based on the 1971 population figures.

The goal of delimitation is to create electoral districts that are roughly equal in population size so that each citizen’s vote carries about the same weight.

The 42nd amendment to the Indian Constitution froze the delimitation exercise for 25 years until 2001, which was subsequently extended by another 25 years until 2026.

Also read: KTR expresses concern over 2026 delimitation on population basis

Southern states likely to lose out

The 2026 delimitation exercise will be dependent on the latest population figures; it is here that the southern states are likely to lose out.

The question is, lose out by how much? An indication can be had from a 2019 report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Published just weeks before the general elections that year, the report said northern states would gain more than 32 seats because of delimitation, with the south losing about 24.

Specifically, the report, titled ‘India’s Emerging Crisis of Representation’, said Bihar and Uttar Pradesh alone would get 21 more seats, while Tamil Nadu and Kerala would get 16 less.

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal would account for 33 percent of Lok Sabha seats by 2026 — the earliest the delimitation process could start.

Related: NMC guidelines don’t allow new medical colleges in South India

Gangetic belt would decide the government

It estimated that if parliamentary seats were to be reallocated on the basis of population now, the Gangetic belt would send 275 of 543 MPs to the Lok Sabha.

Congress MP from Kerala, Shashi Tharoor, raised these very concerns at South First’s Dakshin Dialogues conclave, where he said that “in a situation where there is a particularly strong majoritarian party in power at the Centre with say a Hindi-Hindustan-Hindutva agenda, the Southern states collectively could find themselves unable to prevent any Constitutional Amendment”.

It also estimated that by 2026, the number of people each parliamentarian in the Gangetic belt would represent would rise by 2.9 million, thanks to the region’s high fertility rates.

As Rama Rao, speaking at South First’s Dakshin Dialogues, said: “The southern states are going to find that one of the rewards for their good economic performance, low levels of fertility of women, high levels of empowerment and education of women and thereby lower population, is going to be a loss of political and economic power at the Union level.”