Amaravati, Apr 16 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh IT Minister and newly appointed TDP working president Nara Lokesh on Thursday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “assuring the nation on behalf of the NDA that no injustice would be done to any state through the delimitation exercise”.
The minister’s remarks come in the wake of the Union government taking up the Delimitation Bill in the Lok Sabha today.
“Grateful for the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s assurance to the nation, on behalf of the NDA, that the proportion of seats of each state in the parliament would not be affected in the delimitation exercise,” Lokesh said in a post on ‘X’.
The TDP working president also asserted that “no injustice would be done to any state. This is NDA’s guarantee”.
However, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) vice president Kolanukonda Sivaji pointed out that there is a serious concern over the proposed Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026, introduced in the Parliament today.
“The central government appears to be taking these steps with the intention of using the redistricting of constituencies for political gain, in order to increase the number of constituencies in areas where the ruling party is strong,” Sivaji said addressing a press conference in Vijayawada.
Noting that this move by the Centre raises serious doubts about the impartiality of the democratic system, he said of particular concern is the use of women’s reservation as a ‘pretext’.
While increasing political representation for women is an important goal that everyone supports, it is inappropriate to use it for political gain, Sivaji asserted.
He said these new proposals risked undermining the spirit of the constitutional amendments brought in 2023.
The delimitation process should be transparent, impartial, and constitutional, Sivaji said, noting that it should be based on criteria such as equal representation, not on political gains and losses.
Urging the Centre to display the full details of these proposals to the public and hold comprehensive discussions with all communities, the Congress leader said that “changing the democratic system for political gain undermines public trust”.
“The Congress party is opposing the delimitation process. The Congress party supports the Women’s Bill. Also, the Bill should include representation for tribal, OBC, SC, ST women,” he said.
Further, Sivaji said that southern states will suffer due to the increase in Parliament constituencies, especially Andhra Pradesh due to the consideration of population quota into delimitation.
“This increase of 50 per cent pro rata is not reasonable. Therefore, we should have a separate increase in constituencies. As per the call given by the Central government, we have not only controlled the population growth in our state but also achieved good results,” Sivaji said.
If the southern states are being politically unfairly treated for controlling their population by following family planning, he claimed that the Hindi speaking states which have failed to control their population will benefit from the increase in seats.
The delimitation is likely to reduce the share of the southern states from 24 per cent to 20 per cent in the Lok Sabha, Sivaji said, and found fault with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, a key NDA ally, for “supporting a bill that will harm the state.” This is not just a legal matter — it is a matter of preserving the spirit of Indian democracy, Sivaji added. PTI STH KH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.