Amaravati, Jun 17 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh on Wednesday defended the NDA government’s approach to delimitation, arguing that expanding the Lok Sabha while retaining states’ proportional share of seats would preserve the existing balance of political power and ensure better representation for citizens.
The minister’s remarks came after Thiruvananthapuram (Congress) MP Shashi Tharoor questioned Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s support for maintaining states’ proportional share in an expanded Lok Sabha, arguing that larger states would still gain significantly more MPs in absolute terms, thereby increasing their political weight.
“India in 2026 is not India in 1971. Our population has grown from about 55 crore to nearly 146 crore. While Lok Sabha membership has remained virtually unchanged, the average MP today represents nearly 2.5 times as many citizens as an MP did when the freeze was imposed. Expanding the House is therefore a democratic necessity, not a political choice,” Lokesh said in a post on ‘X’.
Reacting to Tharoor’s concerns that a proportional increase in parliamentary seats could still enhance the political influence of larger states, he said Article 81 of the Constitution envisages allocation of Lok Sabha seats on the basis of population and noted that the constitutional freeze linked to the 1971 Census was always intended to be temporary.
Lokesh contended that if seats are increased to reflect current population realities while preserving each state’s proportional share, states that successfully implemented population stabilisation measures would not be disadvantaged and representation for all Indians would improve.
He further said that no state has a constitutional right to greater representation per voter than another and that the Constitution seeks to ensure that every citizen’s vote carries, as nearly as practicable, equal weight.
Responding to Tharoor’s analogy comparing salary hikes for a high-income employee and a driver, Lokesh maintained that parliamentary influence ultimately depends on votes on the floor of the House.
“As for your thought experiment, parliamentary influence ultimately flows from votes on the floor of the House. Whether a simple majority or a two-thirds majority is required, a proportionate increase for all states leaves those equations unchanged. If everyone receives the same proportional increase, nobody gains an advantage over anyone else,” he said. PTI MS KH
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