Chennai: Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday strongly opposed the proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies based on population, warning that such a move would weaken the political voice of South India.
Speaking at a meeting on delimitation convened by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin in Chennai, Revanth Reddy asserted that if the delimitation exercise is carried out on a population basis, “the North will make us secondary citizens”.
“We will not accept delimitation based on population because it would allow states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan to dominate the rest of the country. This is unacceptable at any cost,” he emphasised.
Reddy announced that the Telangana government would soon pass a resolution in the State Assembly opposing the proposed delimitation. He urged other states to follow suit by passing similar resolutions in their respective assemblies. Additionally, he proposed holding the next meeting of southern states and Punjab in Hyderabad and announced plans for a public meeting in the city with the leaders who participated in Saturday’s discussion.
Accusing the BJP-led central government of implementing a policy of “demographic penalty,” Reddy said that while Telangana and other states respect the unity of the country, delimitation based on population would politically marginalise them. He called for an extension of the freeze on Lok Sabha seats for another 25 years while allowing delimitation within states.
Referring to past precedents, he pointed out that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had implemented delimitation without increasing the number of seats to maintain political balance among states. Similarly, the NDA government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001 had carried out delimitation without increasing seats, and he urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to follow the same approach.
Reddy also rejected the Pro Rata formula for delimitation, stating that it would alter the power balance among states. “The Pro Rata formula will also hurt us politically,” he warned.
As an alternative, he suggested taking each state as a unit for delimitation, adjusting the boundaries of Lok Sabha constituencies within states based on the latest census.
He also advocated increasing the number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) and ensuring 33 percent reservation for women in every state.
