Delimitation Looms Large on India’s North & South States

Indian National Congress Member of Parliament from Chandigarh Manish Tiwari has raised issues with the Delimitation exercise planned for 2026. He said if Delimitation takes place according to the current formula, Panjab and Haryana, which currently have 13 and 10 Lok Sabha (lower house) seats respectively, would be down to just 18 seats cumulatively in the Indian Parliament. Delimitation is an exercise of redrawing boundaries of parliamentary constituencies according to population density. Parliamentary constituencies are defined on the basis of population. Over the past few decades, India has had an uneven growth in population. The population of south Indian states, and Panjab and Haryana—which efficiently followed family planning—has grown slower than the population of central Indian states where family planning was not effectively implemented. Delimitation was carried out in 1952 and 1962. It was first deferred in 1976 and again in 2001 by 25 years each time. Delimitation is now due in 2026 but south Indian parties like Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, Left Democratic Front alliance in Kerala, Indian National Congress (INC) in Karnataka are opposing the move. Calling for a new formula or a perpetual freeze on the current provisions, Tewari said, 'If delimitation is held on the current principles of one citizen, one vote and one value then not only the south but even north India would lose as the share of the northern states will go down further.' Panjab INC has joined Tiwali’s call. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has tried to reassure those raising their voice by saying, 'The southern states will not lose a single Parliamentary seat on account of Delimitation.' However, his assurance seems hollow because no new formula has been proposed. In fact, even the national Census due in 2021 has not yet been conducted. There are no exact numbers available on how many people reside in any constituency (earlier coverage).