Delimitation and Concerns of Southern States | 28 Feb 2025

Source: IE 

Why in News? 

The Union Home Minister assured that the upcoming delimitation exercise would not harm southern states and promised them a fair share of any seat increase. 

What is Delimitation? 

• About: Delimitation means the process of fixing the number of seats and boundaries of territorial constituencies in each State for the Lok Sabha and Legislative assemblies. 
  • This ‘delimitation process’ is performed by the ‘Delimitation Commission’ that is set up under an act of Parliament. 
• Delimitation Commission: It is a high powered 3 member body whose orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court. 
  • It includes two Supreme Court or High Court judges, one appointed as chairman by the central government, and the Chief Election Commissioner as an ex-officio member. 
  • Its orders are presented to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies but cannot be modified. 
  • It has powers of a civil court. 
  • It has been set up four times till February 2024 i.e., 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002. 
• Rationale Behind Delimitation: Each state is divided into territorial constituencies in such a manner that the ratio between population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it is the same throughout the state. 
  • It ensures uniform representation both among different states and within constituencies of the same state.  
• Constitutional Provisions:  
  • Article 82: It provides for the readjustment of seats in the House of the people to the states and the division of each State into territorial constituencies after every census.  
  • Article 170: It provides for the composition of Legislative Assemblies. 
• Related Amendments: Population-based seat allocation favors high population growth states, so amendments were made to prevent imbalances and reward population control efforts. 
  • 42^nd Amendment Act, 1976: It froze Lok Sabha seat allocation and constituency division at the 1971 level until 2000. 
  • 84^th Amendment Act, 2001: The freeze on readjustment was extended for another 25 years until 2026. 
  • 87^th Amendment Act, 2003: It allowed delimitation based on the 2001 census without changing the number of seats or constituencies. 
• Judicial Review: In the Kishorchandra Chhanganlal Rathod Case, 2024, the Supreme Court held that an order by the Delimitation Commission can be reviewed if it is clearly arbitrary and violates constitutional values. 

Why are Southern States Concerned with Upcoming Delimitation? 

• Fear of Losing Representation: Low Southern states' population compared to Northern states may result in fewer Lok sabha seats for southern states if delimitation is solely based on population.  
  • E.g., 0% increase in the number of seats for Kerala, only a 26% increase for Tamil Nadu, but a whopping 79% for both MP and UP. 
• Gerrymandering: Southern states are concerned about gerrymandering that is a practice of manipulating electoral boundaries to unfairly favor a party or group, distorting fair representation. 
  • E.g., Under Nepal's new constitution (2015), Nepal’s Terai region, with 50% of the population, got fewer seats than the hills due to constituency demarcation favoring geography over population, benefiting the hill elite.  
• Threat to Federalism: Delimitation may increase the fiscal burden on Southern states as more seats for the North could mean higher central allocations per representative.  
  • Lower political representation of southern states compared to northern states may pressure them to accept policies they see as unfair. 
• Discouragement to Good Governance: Southern states' population control efforts could lead to fewer seats in delimitation, unfairly favoring high-fertility states and discouraging good governance. 
  • It leads to criticism of good policies and may prove counter-productive. E.g., some politicians considered incentives for larger families. 
• North-South Division: A sense of political and economic imbalance could fuel demands for greater autonomy or special status, straining national unity and deepening North-South divisions. 
• Skewed Resource Allocation: Northern states may gain more central funds and welfare schemes due to greater parliamentary influence, while southern states risk fewer resources despite better governance. 
  • The Finance Commission (FC) uses population as one of the criteria for allocating funds to states, which can be disadvantageous for southern states. 
• Weakening Regional Parties: Many fear delimitation may favor parties with strong northern bases, shifting political dynamics and weakening southern regional parties. 

Way Forward 

• Balanced Representation: Ensure no state loses its existing seat share while using a weighted formula that considers population, development indices, economic contribution, and governance quality for fair representation. 
• Equitable Resource Allocation: Revise the Finance Commission’s devolution formula to protect Southern states from financial disadvantages and strengthen inter-state councils for balanced policymaking. 
• Consensus-Building: Establish a constitutional review panel to address delimitation concerns and raise awareness about representation factors beyond population size to prevent regional discontent. 
• Bicameral Strengthening: Provide greater representation to Southern states in the Rajya Sabha to counterbalance any Lok Sabha seat reductions.