New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin Tuesday said that delimitation is “hanging on the southern states like the sword of Damocles”, days after remarking that the state faces a loss of parliamentary seats in case of such an exercise.
The delimitation exercise of redrawing parliamentary constituencies and deciding on number of seats in each state was previously slated for 2026, with the Centre now expected to hold a much-delayed Census right before it. The timing of the Census has raised suspicions among Opposition parties about the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government’s political designs.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Wednesday dismissed Stalin’s concerns, saying, “…the Modi government has made it clear in Lok Sabha that after delimitation, on pro rata basis, not a single seat will be reduced in any southern state.” He added that people in Tamil Nadu are “disturbed” with Stalin’s governance and that is why the CM is distracting them with talks of delimitation.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, however, Thursday echoed Stalin’s sentiments, and deemed Amit Shah’s statement “not credible” and deliberately trying to create confusion in the southern states.
The southern states fear they will lose out to the northern states in case of a delimitation exercise based on population and only because they have implemented family planning better. However, no formula for delimitation has been decided yet and it will not just be a North vs South problem, explains Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta in episode 1614 of #CutTheClutter.
Discussing the key numbers that could impact delimitation, he looks back at the Indira Gandhi-era 42nd amendment to the Constitution, which paved the way for the exercise, and what’s in store for different states—from Punjab to Bihar, and Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala.
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