Use national population growth as reference to redraw LS seat map: SAD at Chennai meet

The Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday said the delimitation exercise to demarcate Lok Sabha constituencies should take the national population growth rate as the reference point rather than each state’s individual figures.

The suggestion was given by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders at a convention called by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in Chennai.

The party said this would ensure that the states that implemented population-control measures are not disadvantaged.

SAD working president Balwinder Singh Bhunder also said since the Rajya Sabha represented the states, each state should have an equal number of seats in the upper House of Parliament.

Bhunder said special consideration should be given to the states that successfully controlled their population growth in line with the national policy.

“These states should be rewarded rather than being penalised. Punjab, like the southern states, has effectively maintained population control, with its population now below the replacement level. They should not be disadvantaged,” he added.

Bhunder also spoke on the Anandpur Sahib resolution of 1978, which he said had called for redefining Centre-state relations in accordance with genuine federal principles.

He said the excessive centralisation witnessed during the Emergency, when the Fundamental Rights were suspended, underscored the necessity of the SAD’s long-standing advocacy for decentralisation.

He said the constitutional framework should be restructured to genuinely reflect federal principles, preserving India’s unity and empowering states to foster regional growth and development.

Speaking on linguistic issues, Bhunder said SAD strongly believed that the Union government should not impose any language in any state, which should have the autonomy to decide on languages to be taught in their educational institutions.

“Similarly, the medium of instruction in schools and colleges should be determined by individual states,” he said.

Several Opposition-ruled states fear that the delimitation exercise to be undertaken by the BJP-led Centre next year to redraw the map of Lok Sabha constituencies may reduce the proportion of seats they currently hold.

They opine that the maximum benefit would go to states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where the population growth had been more than the national average and currently the BJP being the dominant force there.