Delimitation: Swinging sword aimed at South Indian states, says MK Stalin

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India]: DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said in a press release that ‘delimitation’ is a swinging sword aimed at the heads of South Indian states.

“This is a political manoeuvre, if seats in Parliament are increased on the basis of the population then this will reduce the political representation of South Indian states”, read the press release by Tamil Nadu CMO.

The official statement further said that this act of betraying politically aware states like Tamil Nadu should be nipped in the bud.

“We welcome the Women Reservation Bill but at the same time we request Prime Minister Modi to give assurance that no harm would be done to South Indian people in the name of delimitation and PM Modi has to remove the fear of South India people regarding delimitation,” said the press release.

The Women’s Reservation Bill mentions that the bill will come into effect after the publication of the census and delimitation or redrawing of constituencies after the bill becomes law.

The delimitation has raised concerns among the South Indian states as they fear that a lower population in the states as compared to Northern states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar may lead to their unequal representation in the Lok Sabha.

The term ‘Delimitation’ in India is mainly concerned with the allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha.

Article 81(2)(a) of the Indian Constitution mentions that the number of Lok Sabha seats in a state should be proportionate to the population of the state.