Stalin convenes all-party meet on March 5 to discuss Lok Sabha delimitation

Tamil Nadu Chief minister M K Stalin on Tuesday called all registered political parties for a meeting on March 5 in Chennai to discuss the impending issue of Lok Sabha seat delimitation.

Speaking to reporters after a state cabinet meeting, Stalin said Tamil Nadu faced the threat of losing eight seats should the delimitation happen. “The state has successfully implemented the family planning programme which has led to population control,” he said.

The ruling DMK had earlier in its Lok Sabha manifesto made the important political point on behalf of all southern states by pledging a status quo on Lok Sabha seats despite the next delimitation exercise, scheduled after the 18th Lok Sabha poll.

Promising a population and caste survey every five years, the DMK manifesto said, “The successful implementation of Centre’s family planning programme by Tamil Nadu led to a decrease in population, resulting in the reduction of parliamentary constituencies from 41 to 39 during the constituency delimitation in 1971.

Based on the amended law in 2002, the Union Government decided to maintain the number of constituencies at the previous level due to the insistence of states and the number of constituencies remains the same ever since. The DMK assures that this status will continue during the upcoming constituency delimitation as well.”

The point may resonate across other southern states where the BJP remains electorally weak because all these states, due to better population control, are slated to see only a marginal rise in Lok Sabha seats post the next delimitation with Kerala poised to seen a drop from current 20 seats, while UP estimated to see a rise from 80 to 128.

The delimitation exercise which would alter Lok Sabha seats based on population growth is also bound to change the constitution of the Rajya Sabha.

“There is population based representation of states in the Rajya Sabha. The current constitutional provision is that there can be no delimitation till 2026 and that the exercise can only be undertaken after the 2031 Census.

Southern states and even Punjab which took early steps at family planning are deeply concerned about their representation in the house after 2026 because their population is declining as against the northern and central states where the population is rising. How to reconcile this difference will be the biggest political challenge in the future,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.

The current constitutional position is that there would be no delimitation until the first Census after 2026. This position flows from the 84th amendment of the Constitution, passed when late Atal Bihari Vajpayee was leading the NDA government.

However, nothing stops the government from amending the Constitution further to prepone the delimitation process to any time before 2026.

Since the representation of states in the Rajya Sabha is based on their population, the next delimitation exercise would significantly alter the number of Upper House MPs from states that have reached replacement level of fertility, mainly south Indian states.

Many north Indian states on the contrary would be witnessing a rise in the population until 2026 and will land a larger share of MPs in Rajya Sabha when the next delimitation takes place.

What Stalin has said

As the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, I bring to everyone's attention that the Lok Sabha constituency redrawing exercise based on the 2026 Census is extremely dangerous.

Southern states like Tamil Nadu have done a great job in controlling population growth. But if that is the reason why our strength in Parliament will decrease; if it can suppress our voice, how can it be justified?

Our argument is not that any steps should be taken to improve representation in a democratic manner. For that, there is no room for compromise in the representation of Tamil Nadu!

We ask that you follow a fair and transparent process that preserves federalist principles. In this context, I invite all registered political parties in Tamil Nadu to discuss this very important issue that will affect the future of Tamil Nadu.

To protect the future of our motherland, Tamil Nadu, let us unite as one, transcending party differences! Let us overcome the surrounding danger with our unity!