JAC Demands Freeze Delimitation of Parliamentary Constituencies for 25 More Years

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Mar 22: The Joint Action Committee on Fair Delimitation, a gathering of mostly the southern Indian states, on Saturday demanded that the freeze on the number of Parliamentary constituencies, based on the 1971 Census, be further extended for another 25 years.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) Parliamentary Party leader Kanimozhi, who briefed the media about the seven-point resolution passed by the JAC to this effect, said any delimitation exercise carried out by the Union government to improve the content and character of our democracy should be done transparently, enabling political parties of all the States, State governments, and other stakeholders to deliberate, discuss, and contribute to it.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin hosted the first meeting of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) on delimitation in Chennai on Saturday. The event, attended by leaders from multiple states, marked the beginning of what Mr Stalin described as a “national movement” to ensure fair representation in Parliament. The meeting also drew criticism from the BJP, which accused the DMK of diverting attention from domestic governance issues under the guise of a political struggle.

At the heart of the controversy lies the impending parliamentary seat delimitation exercise, which is expected to follow the next national census. According to current projections, southern states – including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana – stand to lose representation in Parliament due to their success in population control. In contrast, northern states with higher population growth could gain seats.

The JAC meeting saw participation from leaders across states, including Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Odisha Congress President Bhakta Charan Das, and Biju Janata Dal leader Sanjay Kumar Das Burma, among others.

West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Banerjee, which had backed the DMK on its delimitation stance, did not attend the meeting. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik attended the meeting virtually. ‘Delimitation based only on population figures will be unfair to the states who have worked hard to reduce their population growth rates in line with national priorities,” he said in a video message.

The Stalin-led DMK has long expressed concerns that the proposed delimitation will tilt the Lok Sabha’s numerical strength in favour of north Indian states and penalise south India for family planning measures, despite the BJP denying this. “Delimitation of constituencies should not happen as per current population. We all should be firm in opposing it…With the decrease in the people’s representatives in Parliament, our strength to express our views will decrease,” he said at the meeting.

Stalin had said all states should oppose delimitation as per the current population as it would decease public representatives in the parliament and the strength of other parties to express their views. Laws will be passed without proper discussion, students will lose important opportunities and farmers will face setbacks, he said.

Addressing the JAC meeting, Mr Stalin said the movement was not against delimitation itself but against an unfair implementation of it. “We are not against delimitation; we are for fair delimitation,” he declared. He proposed forming a legal expert committee to chart out a comprehensive legal strategy to challenge the process if needed. “Continuous action is essential to establish our rights. Our representation must not decline,” he said.

The seven-point resolution on delimitation adopted at the meeting said, “Any delimitation exercise carried out by the Union Government to improve the content and character of democracy should be carried out transparently, enabling political parties of all the States, State Governments and other stakeholders to deliberate, discuss and contribute in it.”

“The States which have effectively implemented the population control program and consequently whose population share has come down, should not be penalised. The Union Government must enact necessary constitutional amendments for this purpose.”

“Given the fact that the legislative intent behind the 42nd, 84th, and 87th Constitutional amendments was to protect/incentivise States which have implemented population control measures effectively and the goal of national population stabilisation has not yet been achieved, the freeze on Parliamentary constituencies based on 1971 Census should be extended by another 25 years,” the resolution said.

Ms Kanimozhi said the States, which had effectively implemented the population control programme and whose population share had come down consequently, should not be penalised. “The Union government must enact necessary Constitutional amendments for this purpose. The Core Committee consisting of Members of Parliament from the represented States will coordinate the parliamentary strategies to counter any attempts by the Union government to undertake any delimitation exercise contrary to the principles mentioned above,” she said, quoting the resolution.

She said the Core Committee of MPs shall submit a joint representation along these lines to the Prime Minister of India during the ongoing Parliamentary session. “The political parties from different States represented in the meeting will initiate efforts to bring about appropriate Legislative Assembly resolutions in their respective States on the issue and communicate the same to the Union government,” the resolution said.

It further said the JAC would also undertake necessary efforts to disseminate information on the history and context of past delimitation exercises and the consequences of the proposed delimitation among the citizens of their respective States, through a coordinated public opinion mobilisation strategy.

The Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy demanded that the representation of Southern States in Lok Sabha be increased from the existing 24% to 33% and if that has to be achieved there should be a collective effort from all affected States.

Speaking at the JAC meeting, he said Southern States representation is limited to just 130 seats out of the 543 seats. “This is a mere 24% and anything less would reduce South to the role of a passive audience in the political theatre of India,” he said.

Appreciating the initiative by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, he offered to hold the next meeting of Southern States and Punjab in Hyderabad. “We will discuss how to take the fight forward. I will organise a public meeting of all leaders. Please join us there to continue this fight,” he said.

Mr Reddy said the country faced a big challenge with the BJP implementing a policy of ‘demographic penalty.’ “Since 1971, when India decided to adopt family planning as a national priority, South India has done very well, but big States in North India have failed.” In contrast, South India turned a “Spectacular South” and achieved fastest economic growth, higher GDP and per capita income, jobs creation, best infrastructure development, better governance and best social welfare.

The Chief Minister reiterated his earlier allegations stating that South gets much lesser than what it contributes to the national exchequer. For example ₹1 tax paid by Tamil Nadu gets back 26 paisa and similarly Karnataka gets 16 paisa, Telangana gets 42 paisa and Kerala gets 49 paisa. But at the same time, when Bihar pays ₹1 tax, it gets ₹6.06, Uttar Pradesh ₹2.03 and Madhya Pradesh gets ₹1.73. This disparity is what concerns the country and this needs to be set right.

If population is the criterion for delimitation Southern States cannot accept as it limits them politically. “It will punish us for emerging as performing States. We have to stop BJP from implementing any unfair delimitation.”

Mr Reddy reminded that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi took up delimitation without increasing seats because it would create an imbalance of political power between States. In 2001, the NDA government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee also took up the delimitation exercise in States without increasing seats.

Mr Reddy wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do the same. A message must be sent to the PM that South will not accept population-based delimitation, he said. He said the pro-rata formula will also hurt the South as it change the power gap. He reminded that the Central government is decided with a majority of one seat and there have been examples of a Central government losing power with just one vote.

The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in his address, likened the delimitation proposal to the “Sword of Damocles” hanging over the southern states. The “Sword of Damocles” is an ancient Roman moral parable about a king named Dionysius who wanted to show that power comes with constant anxiety. He let a man named Damocles sit in his place and enjoy the luxury of being king – but hung a sharp sword above his head by a single strand of horsehair.

Mr Vijayan accused the BJP of pursuing the exercise based on “narrow political interests.” “This sudden move is not driven by Constitutional principles or democratic imperatives,” he said.

Mr Shivakumar said South India had long upheld national interests through strict adherence to population control and literacy efforts. “We cannot let our seats be reduced. Economically and in terms of literacy, we have consistently led the way,” he said.

As the JAC meeting proceeded, the BJP staged a black flag protest outside the venue, with its leaders alleging that the event was a smokescreen to cover up governance failures in opposition-ruled states. Former Telangana Governor and senior BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan described the meeting as a “corruption-hiding” exercise. “The concerned Chief Ministers who are attending the meeting are doing so to hide the misgovernance in the concerned states. There are so many corruption charges in Telangana, Kerala. Their own people will be against their Chief Ministers attending this event,” she claimed. “Instead of calling this a delimitation meeting, it can be called corruption hiding meeting.”

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai echoed these sentiments, accusing Mr Stalin of “manufacturing a political crisis” to distract from domestic concerns. “The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has never gone to Kerala to speak with them and solve the issues, but today, he has invited the Kerala Chief Minister to talk about an artificial issue which he has created,” he claimed. “DK Shivakumar is plotting his move against Siddaramaiah. That is the reason for him to come running to Tamil Nadu to show that he is a Pan-India leader and Siddaramaiah is a regional leader,” he added.

The 42nd and 84th Constitutional Amendments froze the delimitation process until 2026 to ensure that states controlling population growth were not penalised. With the deadline approaching, southern states fear a reduction in their representation. Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urged caution, urging that no state should lose representation.

“Request for the delimitation exercise to be conducted in such a manner that no state would have to endure any reduction in its representation in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, in terms of its share in total no. (number) of seats in the house,” said Jagan Mohan Reddy in his letter to the PM.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao raised concerns over what he called the possibility of a “disproportionate increase in number of seats” in the Lok Sabha and assemblies of some populous northern states after delimitation. Mr KT Rama Rao alleged a huge discrepancy in the exercise prescribed by the government decades ago to prevent a demographic crisis.

“Firstly, I think the biggest challenge is the whole intent of family planning which was prescribed by the government of India in late 70s and 80s was to ensure that the country doesn’t suffer from a demographic challenge. So, those states that have done exceptionally well in population control today, if you go back in time and start penalising them, then that’s certainly a travesty of justice,” Mr KTR said.

He cautioned that after a population-based delimitation, three-four states could end up determining the political roadmap for the whole country. “Those states that have had explosive population growth despite the government of India’s prescription, today cannot be asked to run the country and decide the future course of action for the country. What we are proposing is a fair delimitation,” KTR said.

“What we are proposing is a consultative approach. What we are proposing and requesting is that the government of India does not act in a unilateral fashion. Instead, go in a consultative way,” he added.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured southern states that they won’t lose even a single seat, rather they will gain seats on a pro-rata basis. KTR, however, expressed doubt over Mr Shah’s assurance. “Southern states do not lose [seats] does not mean that northern states will not gain disproportionately. That’s the concern, that the south may nominally see an increase in seats, but the north may get a disproportionate [number of seats],” he said.

He said it may not be accurate to say all southern states are coming together and opposing the delimitation exercise in its current form.

“Well, I think it’s an issue-based thing. You know, we are Indians first, then we are south Indians, then we are Telangana, then Telugu, etc. Punjab and Odisha joined us and West Bengal is also likely to join us [on the delimitation debate],” KTR said. “I suppose it’s just a good beginning on a very good issue.”