‘Will stand together, speak with one voice’: South India expresses concern over proposed delimitation exercise

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New Delhi: The reaction across South Indian states to the proposed increase in the strength of Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 members, along with key changes to delimitation rules and women’s reservation provisions, has been united. The pushback is essentially being made by political leaders and parties from states such as Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has called for a sustained political pushback against the Centre’s exercise. Revanth wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that the move will “affect the future of our democracy and country”.  He  said: “The real contentious issue is increasing seats to 850 on a pro rata basis.”

The CM pointed out, “This could shift political power and create imbalance, especially against southern states.” “States like Telangana and others in the South will be penalised politically despite better population control and economic performance.”

Revanth accused the BJP-led Union government of trying to dilute the South’s representation in Parliament under the garb of increasing seats by 50%. Sounding a caution, he said that the Centre’s proposed move could cause grave injustice to women and to SC and ST communities in the southern states.

The CM has also written to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking his support against the proposed move.

Taking to X, BRS working president KT Rama Rao, who is Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Telangana Legislative Assembly, said that BRS’s stand remains unchanged from what it was three years ago.

He shared a post from September 25, 2023 which said: “We will not remain mute spectators if the voices and representation of our people in the country’s highest democratic forum are suppressed. Hope wisdom prevails and Delhi is listening.”

In a post on X, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said: “Dear brother @Revanth_Anumula, Our unity is to protect our state rights and secure a just and equitable future for our generations to come. The South will stand together, speak with one voice, and uphold the true spirit of federalism.” He is set to hold a meeting to discuss the issue at 11am today.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah pointed out that delimitation must not become “a tool that reshapes representation to suit political convenience, or one that is pushed through by tying it to unrelated reforms”. He added that states that prioritised population control would face injustice under the proposed exercise. The CM pointed out that the voice of the southern states in Parliament should not become weak because of the delimitation.