What’s delimitation? Why South Indian states are unhappy about it

An exercise to redraw India’s parliamentary constituencies based on a new census is threatening to deepen a regional divide between the north and the south and further strain the country’s federal structure. Recently, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin has gone on the offensive over the delimitation exercise which is likely to see southern states lose seats in parliament. In contrast, north Indian states will gain significantly. 

Delimitation means drawing the boundaries of constituencies based on the population in the most recent census. India has done this exercise 4 times since independence and as per the Constitution, it is meant to be done every 10 years after the census. But in 1976, a constitutional amendment froze the process till after the census of 2001. This was further extended until after 2026. The last census was due to take place in 2021 but was first delayed by the pandemic and then for reasons that no one really knows. 

At the heart of the controversy is that states that have a larger population, like Uttar Pradesh, will see an increase in seats. And those who have successfully implemented population control like Tamil Nadu will lose out. 

That is why at a meeting of all parties in Tamil Nadu on the 5th of this month, a six-point resolution was adopted calling for the Centre to extend the 1971 census-based delimitation for another 30 years. The political battle lines have been drawn. 

There are different projections published in recent years showing what the changed map could look like. According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace based on a 2026 census projection, Uttar Pradesh would gain 11 seats, Bihar would gain 10 seats, and other Hindi states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh would also see big jumps. The report projects Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh would each lose 8 seats. 

This is why Chief Minister Stalin has said “the threat of delimitation is hanging over the southern states like the sword of Damocles.” Even though Home Minister Amit Shah has said southern states will not lose seats after delimitation, that is not borne out by data on the ground and the very nature of the exercise itself. 

And if that wasn’t enough, a row over the imposition of the Hindi language in the new education policy is also fuelling a regional divide. The Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been on the offensive on this, an emotive issue in the south that has historically been roiled by violence on the same as well. These are all serious issues that need to be dealt with delicately and sensitively. 

Unfortunately, the BJP does not quite have a track record of taking states along and having discussions on contentious issues. There is no doubt that the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies need to be redrawn for better and fairer representation in Parliament. This should have been done every 10 years as was originally envisioned so that the Lok Sabha would see gradual changes. Not the sudden shock it will get now. But should this be done by redistributing the seats in the Lok Sabha (giving some states more, and cutting from others) or expanding the size of the House, so that no seats are reduced anywhere but those states with a higher population could get more? This means the size of the Lok Sabha would have to go up to around 850 seats and this would allow states like UP and Bihar to gain seats without reducing those from Tamil Nadu or Telangana.

Regardless, the BJP stands to gain the most from the process. And smaller parties end up losing out.