Hyderabad, March 27: The Telangana Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution opposing the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies on the population basis. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy moved the resolution, stating that the threat of decline in the representation of the South to 19 per cent from 24 per cent is not ruled out if the delimitation was carried out by taking population as the main criteria. The resolution urged the Centre to carry out delimitation only after consultations with all the state governments and all political parties.

CM Revanth Reddy urged all political parties to rise above party lines and take a united stand against the delimitation based on population, saying such an exercise would politically weaken the southern states. He alleged that one party was trying to remain in power at the Centre by increasing the number of seats in North India. He appealed to all parties to rise above politics and put pressure on the Centre on this issue. Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin Says ‘Next Meeting on Delimitation of Constituencies To Be Held in Hyderabad’.

“We all should fight against the Centre if the Southern states are meted out injustice in the delimitation process. The Southern states effectively implemented family planning. They will be at the receiving end if the delimitation is done on a population basis,” he said. He recalled that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had observed that the delimitation on a population basis would ruin friendly and cordial relations between the states. He said a fresh debate on the delimitation of constituencies on a population basis has started creating apprehensions among Southern states.

Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar announced the adoption of the resolution by a voice vote even as some members wanted to express their views. “This House expresses its deep concern on the manner in which the impending delimitation exercise is being planned without any transparent consultations with the stakeholders. The House urges that any delimitation exercise should be carried out transparently and after extensive consultations with all state governments, all political parties and all stakeholders,” reads the resolution.

“The states which have effectively implemented the population control program pushed by the Centre, and consequently whose population share has come down, should not be penalized and hence, population should not be the sole yardstick for delimitation.” “It is to be noted that the purpose and intent behind the 42nd, 84th and 87th Constitutional amendments aimed at national population stabilization are yet to be achieved. Hence, while continuing with the freeze on the number of Parliamentary seats, taking the state as a unit, redrawing the boundaries of Parliamentary constituencies can be taken up, duly augmenting the SC and ST seats as per latest population and also providing for reservation for women,” it added. Delimitation Row: Tamil Superstar and TVK Chief Vijay Calls for Freezing Number of Lok Sabha Seats Based on 1971 Census.

The resolution also urged the Centre to increase the number of seats in the Telangana Assembly from 119 to 153. “Further, the House resolves that in order to strengthen the representative democracy, the number of seats in the state Assembly should be immediately increased from 119 to 153 pursuant to the A.P Reorganization Act, 2014 and as per latest census. This House urges the Union Government to introduce necessary Constitutional amendments for this purpose,” the resolution read.

The Chief Minister alleged that the Union government was discriminating against the state. CM Revanth Reddy, who was a member of the previous Lok Sabha, pointed out that the Centre, in reply to his question, had stated that the delimitation of Assembly constituencies will be done only after the 2026 census. He slammed the Centre for its double standards on the issue. He said the Centre amended the Constitution and increased the number of Assembly constituencies from 83 to 90 as per the 2011 census in Jammu and Kashmir. In Sikkim, a resolution was passed in the Cabinet in 2018 and the process of delimitation of constituencies is currently underway.

The CM said that he was moving this resolution in the Assembly to expose the double standards of the Centre. “Let us all meet the Central government on delimitation to safeguard the interests. Let us also take up the path of struggle, if necessary.” The Chief Minister said the government would soon hold a meeting with all parties under the leadership of Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka and senior leader K. Jana Reddy. He appealed to all parties to attend the meeting.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2025 03:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).