'Delimitation a sword hanging over South': Stalin seeks PM's help

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin announced his support for the women's reservation bill on Wednesday but raised concern about the impending delimitation of parliamentary seats, calling it a Damocles Sword and urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi allay the fear among southern states that the exercise will slash their representation in Parliament.

- Divya Chandrababu

The debate around delimitation which includes the redrawing of constituency boundaries and the reapportioning of seatshas been reignited by the women's reservation bill, which passed the Lok Saha on Wednesday and said that it will come into effect after delimitation is completed.

In 2002, the 84th amendment to the Constitution froze the number of parliamentary seats till the end of 2025. Southern states have long feared that any rejig in the number of seats will benefit the more populous states in northern India and hurt south India's relative weight in Parliament.

"It is unjust that southern states, which have diligently followed the Union government's policies to control population growth, may face punitive measures during the constituency delimitation," Stalin said in a statement. He said that delimitation was a Damocles sword hanging over the head of Tamil Nadu and South India.