Hyderabad: Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention and assurance to allay the fears of several states over the impending delimitation exercise, which he said has the potential to disrupt the social and political harmony in the country.
In a letter to Modi, dated 21 March, Jagan sought to draw the prime minister’s attention to the “potential for significant erosion of Southern State’s participation in national policy-making and legislative process if the delimitation process is conducted on the basis of the states’ population as it stands today”.
The YSRCP chief’s missive was made public Saturday, as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief and Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin-initiated Joint Action Committee is meeting in Chennai to push for a fair delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies.
The chief ministers of Telangana, Punjab and Kerala—Revanth Reddy, Bhagwant Mann and Pinarayi Vijayan, respectively—Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao were among the leaders who attended the conference, along with representatives of some other parties.
Though Jagan was requested to join, with Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Public Works E.V. Velu and DMK Rajya Sabha MP P. Wilson meeting him in Tadepalli and handing him the invitation letter from Stalin, the YSRCP chief decided to stay away.
“Jagan has expressed the party stand, his opinion on delimitation to the PM in the letter and the same content was sent in another letter to Chennai meeting,” a senior party functionary and close aide of Jagan told ThePrint.
“What is the point of going there and being seen as joining the Opposition camp, sitting alongside Congress and other parties?” the leader said, adding that YSRCP did not send any representative either.
However, in his letter to Modi, Jagan expressed the same fears over the delimitation plaguing the DMK, BRS, and other southern state parties. They allege that if the seats are rearranged based on the current ratio of population, south India could see its representation reduced compared to the north.
Jagan requested that the delimitation exercise be conducted in a manner that “no state would have to endure any reduction in its representation in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, in terms of its share of seats in the house”.
He added, “The matter has the potential to have a far-reaching impact on not only the political representation of some of the States in the policy and law-making process in the country but to also affect the deep sentiments of vast sections of our population. Sir, in the light of this, I strongly emphasise the need for extreme caution while initiating the delimitation exercise.”
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Constitutional impediment
Jagan further noted that the constitutional embargo on delimitation will come to an end in 2026, and the conclusion of the census that year will inevitably be followed by the delimitation process. “This assumption has caused severe anxiety for several States, Southern States in particular, who fear that their representation would be diminished.”
Noting Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent assurance that the delimitation exercise will be undertaken while being mindful of the need to ensure a proportionate increase of seats for all states, Jagan flagged a Constitutional impediment to such a relaxation.
The former chief minister said that Article 81(2)(a) of the Constitution of India states, “There shall be allotted to each State a number of seats in the House of the people in such a manner that the ratio between that number and the population of the State is, so far as practicable, be the same for all the States”.
In this regard, Jagan said, “If it is imperative that ratio be maintained as warranted by the Constitutional provision, then it would come in the way of fulfilment of Home Minister’s assurance.”
“I therefore emphasise the need to amend the Constitution to give effect to such proportionate increase in seats for each State. This would ensure that no State would have to encounter any reduction in its representation in the House of the People, in terms of the share of the seats allocated to that State in the total seats.”
Given the issue’s ability to act as a “disruption to social and political harmony in the country”, Jagan said the PM’s guidance “at this crucial juncture” was “most vital”.
“An assurance from your end would contribute greatly in allaying the fears of several States.”
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)