Stalin Seeks Other States’ Support on Delimitation

Chennai: Seeking the support of Chief Ministers and former Chief Ministers of other States in his fight for justice in the delimitation process that threatened to permanently diminish their influence in shaping the nation’s future, Chief Minister M K Stalin invited them all to an inaugural meeting in Chennai on March 22 to chart a collective course forward as an initial step towards unified action.

Writing to leaders of 29 parties from seven States on Friday, Stalin regretted that despite the fears of States that successfully implemented family planning that they might lose seats in Parliament, the Union Government had provided neither clarity nor any concrete commitment to address their concerns.

The government representatives had vaguely stated that delimitation would follow a "pro-rata" basis, without explaining the base used for such pro-rata calculation as well as raising an empty rhetoric that no State would face a decrease in its seats while reports suggested that delimitation was being considered based on population, he said.

"We should not be thus penalized for effectively controlling population growth and upholding national development goals,’ he said, adding that the essence of India's democracy rested on its federal character, a system that gave each State its rightful voice while honoring the sacred unity as one Nation.

After delimitation exercises in 1952, 1963, and 1973, the process was frozen in 1976 through the 42nd Amendment until the first census after 2000, to encourage population control but as population disparities persisted, the 84th Amendment extended the freeze until the first census after 2026, he said.

‘With the 2021 Census delayed, the delimitation exercise - originally expected after the 2031 Census - could now take place much earlier than anticipated. This acceleration gives us very little time to protect our interests,’ he said.

States that controlled population and achieved superior governance indicators would face an unjust punishment of reduced representation in the forum where national policies were determined and the democratic imbalance could persist for decades, leaving the states with diminished capacity to advocate their people's interests, secure rightful resources and influence critical national decisions, Stalin said.

Making it clear that Tamil Nadu was not against delimitation per se but only opposed its weaponization against States that fulfilled their national duties, thus punishing progress, he said.

Reports suggested that delimitation was being considered based on population with two potential approaches and in the first case, the existing 543 seats could be redistributed among the states, and in the second case, the total number of seats could be increased beyond 800,’ he said, adding that in both scenarios, all the states that controlled population stood to lose significantly if the exercise was based on post 2026 population.

The all-party meeting on March 5 saw political parties from across the spectrum unitedly demanding a fair delimitation and resolving to form a Joint Action Committee (JAC) by reaching out to all States that faced the same threat, he said.

Inviting the parties to join the JAC comprising Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka in the South to West Bengal and Odisha in the east and Punjab in the north, Stalin asked the parties to nominate a senior representative and also to attend the meeting in Chennai on March 22.