Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy introduced a resolution in the assembly on Thursday urging the Centre not to make population the sole yardstick for delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies and urged all parties to unite against the plan.
Alleging that the Centre was trying to weaken the political influence of southern states, Revanth warned that if population was used as the only basis, south’s LS representation could drop from 24% to 19%.
“Southern states are being penalised for successfully implementing family planning,” the CM said while moving the resolution that demanded “transparent consultations” on delimitation. He emphasised the need to resist attempts to reduce south’s parliamentary strength and spoke about the recent Chennai meeting on the issue organised by Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin. Revanth had attended the March 22 meet.
Revanth also called for an increase in Telangana assembly seats from 119 to 153, in line with Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014. “This House urges the Union govt to introduce necessary constitutional amendments to fulfil this provision,” he said.
The CM referred to how former PM Indira Gandhi and past central govts had avoided population-based delimitation to maintain balance between states. “Now, the Centre is reviving the debate, creating uncertainty in the south,” he said. Former PM Indira believed delimitation on population would ruin friendly and cordial relations between states, he recalled.
The CM accused the Centre of discriminatory policies, citing its decision to increase Jammu and Kashmir’s assembly seats from 83 to 90 based on the 2011 Census and the ongoing delimitation process in Sikkim. “Why is the Centre refusing to implement the same for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh,” he questioned. He revealed that the Centre, in response to his parliamentary query, said delimitation in Telugu states would happen only after the 2026 Census.
“To expose the Centre’s double standards, let’s meet the Union govt collectively and, if necessary, take up a struggle,” Revanth said, announcing plans for an all-party meeting led by deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka and senior leader K Jana Reddy on the issue. He appealed to all parties to participate.
The resolution expressed concern over the lack of transparent consultations on the delimitation exercise. “This House urges that any delimitation exercise should be carried out transparently and after extensive consultations with all state govts, political parties, and all stakeholders,” the resolution said.
The resolution introduced by the CM proposes redrawing constituency boundaries while maintaining the total number of parliamentary seats, taking the state as a unit. It recommends increasing SC and ST representation based on latest population figures and ensuring women’s reservation.