Winners' Loss

Delimitation will affect not only the non-NDA parties, but also NDA partners

- E. Venkatesu IS WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF HYDERABAD

JUST before the 2024 Lok Sabha election, cleavages emerged with a specific reference to the North-South divide and it has intensified in recent times. There are at least two grounds for the cleavages, which include the stabilisation of the population in south India due to various historical, socio-economic, political and policy initiatives. However, there has been a population explosion in north India, especially in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The contrasting models of population stabilisation in south India and explosion in north India has been adversely affecting the distribution of financial resources and representation in terms of the number of seats in Parliament. The second ground is the imposition of Hindi as part of the three language formula on south Indian states—that too without imposing any south Indian language in the north.

Initially, the argument of disproportionate distribution of financial resources came from Kerala, with statistical figures in the payment of taxes and returns from the central government before the 2014 election itself. The issues of downsizing the representation through delimitation and the anti-Hindi agitation have emerged from Tamil Nadu after the 2024 election. In recent times, Tamil Nadu has taken a lead for the constitutional rights of the south Indian states, and one after the other, southern states have been joining the chorus.