South Fears Loss of Lok Sabha Seats in Delimitation

A dispute has erupted between BJP and opposition parties over the proposed population-based delimitation exercise.

- TIKAM SHARMA

A war of words has erupted between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government and the opposition Congress, along with various regional parties, particularly those from southern states.

These parties fear that the proposed delimitation exercise will negatively impact their states by reducing their share of Lok Sabha seats.

The delimitation of Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly constituencies is set to take place based on the first Census conducted after 2026.

The 2021 Census, which was originally scheduled, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and further delayed by the central government.

Delimitation refers to the process of determining the number of seats and redrawing the boundaries of territorial constituencies in each state for both the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies.

It also involves reserving seats for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in these legislative bodies.

Articles 82 and 170 of the Constitution mandate that the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, along with their territorial divisions, must be readjusted after every Census.

This process is carried out by the Delimitation Commission, which is established through an act of Parliament.

Similar exercises were previously conducted following the 1951, 1961, and 1971 Censuses.

The current debate on delimitation is focused on only one of its two aspects.

There is no opposition to the routine redrawing of parliamentary and Assembly constituency boundaries within states or to increasing the number of Assembly seats for any state, as these changes do not impact the federal balance.