While promising that the southern States would get their rightful share of any increase in seats, Minister also assured that not a single Lok Sabha seat is going to be reduced on a pro rata basis.
Concerns of Southern States with Delimitation
- Population control penalty: Delimitation based on population may reduce the number of seats for southern states, penalizing them for effective governance on population control.
- Imbalance in Political representation: Redistribution based on population could lead to a dilution of political representation for southern states in Parliament.
- Federalism and regional autonomy: Significant shift in representation could weaken federalism as national policies might be tailored to suit northern states’ priorities.
About Delimitation
- It is the process of fixing the number of seats and boundaries of territorial constituencies in each State for the Lok Sabha and Legislative assemblies.
- Constitutional Provisions
- Articles 82 and 170 provide for readjustment and the division of each State into territorial constituencies (Parliamentary constituencies and Assembly constituencies) by such authority and in such manner as Parliament may, by law, determine.
- Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution of India provide for refixing number of seats reserved for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies of States.
- 84th Constitutional Amendment, 2001: Froze the delimitation of constituencies until the first census after 2026.
- Delimitation Commissions: Till date, Delimitation Commissions have been Constituted 4 times under Delimitation Commission Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972, and 2002.
- Orders of Delimitation Commissions
- Orders have the force of law and cannot be challenged in court.
- Come into effect on a date specified by the President of India.
