Pinarayi backs Stalin’s push against delimitation

A solidarity meeting has been convened in Chennai on March 22 in what is seen as the beginning of a united movement against the Centre’s “rushed moves” to delimit the Lok Sabha constituencies.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has expressed solidarity with the Tamil Nadu government’s efforts to unite non-Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled States on a common platform to resist any move by the Union government for arbitrary delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies, which contravenes the Constitution’s federalist principles and allegedly seeks to favour the ruling coalition at the Centre.

He put forward Kerala’s stance on the issue to Tamil Nadu IT Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and DMK MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian during their visit on Friday (March 14, 2025) to invite Mr. Vijayan to the Joint Action Committee (JAC) that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is spearheading to bring together leaders from States likely to be affected by the delimitation process.

A solidarity meeting has been convened in Chennai on March 22, 2025 in what is seen as the beginning of a united movement against the Centre’s “rushed moves” to delimit the Lok Sabha constituencies.

Mr. Vijayan, in a press statement, said that the affected States are coming together to resist the Union government’s attempt to unilaterally delimit parliamentary constituencies, throwing the values ​​of democracy and federalism to the wind.

“The Union government should be ready to take a decision on the issue of delimitation of Lok Sabha seats after arriving at a consensus with the States. It should be carried out without reducing the existing proportional share of seats of any State. States that have effectively implemented population control measures in accordance with the population control programmes and family planning policies introduced by the Union governments after Independence should not be penalised. It would be tantamount to rewarding States that have failed in such measures,” said Mr. Vijayan.

He said that the Union government’s arguments that the southern States would get additional share of seats on a pro-rata basis cannot be taken at face value. The Centre has not been able to provide clarity on whether this pro-rata distribution is based on the percentage of the current parliamentary seats or on the basis of population figures.

In either case, the southern States stand to lose representation. It is the responsibility of the Union government to avoid unilateral measures and preserve the essence of democracy and federalism, said Mr. Vijayan.

The States that have successfully implemented population control measures fear that they will lose a significant number of seats if the delimitation exercise is based on post-2026 population. Besides southern States such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, other States, including Odisha, Punjab, and West Bengal, are likely to be affected.

Home Minister Amit Shah stated in a recent public meeting that the number of seats will not be reduced for any State and that it would be increased on a ‘pro-rata’ basis for all States, including the southern States, although he did not make clear the basis for the ‘pro-rata’ share. 

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday had termed the delimitation exercise as a ‘’limitation for the South India,’’ and labelled it as a conspiracy against the southern States.

He said that the Union government’s ‘‘conspiracy’’ should be thwarted and termed the entire exercise of the BJP as a revenge on the southern States for not allowing the party to claim power.

Published - March 14, 2025 06:46 pm IST