• Source:JND

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday addressed the Lok Sabha during a debate of three bills, including a legislation to increase the seats in the House by 50 per cent. During his intervention, Shah refuted a narrative of bias against the Southern states.

He said, "The biggest narrative being created is that these three bills, the Constitution Amendment Bill, two laws on delimitation, and changes to the constituency election law, will harm the power of the South."

In his address, Shah presented state-wise figures, highlighting a slight increase in the representation of southern states, let alone a reduction.

  • Shah said Karnataka has 28 seats, and 5.15 per cent of the current 543 seats in the House. After the Bill gets cleared, the number of Karnataka MPs will increase from 28 to 42 (by 50 per cent). The percentage in the Lok Sabha will increase to 5.44 per cent.
  • As far as Andhra Pradesh is concerned, it has 25 seats, 4.60 per cent representation in the Lok Sabha. After the passage of the bill, the number of MPs will increase from 25 to 38, which will be 4.65 per cent representation.
  • Tamil Nadu, where DMK CM MK Stalin has started a protest against the legislation ahead of assembly elections, has 49 seats in Lol Sabha. It is 7.18 per cent representation in the House. After the passage of the bill, the number of MPs will rise to 59, and their percentage in the new House of 816 will be 7.23 per cent.
  • Telangana currently has 17 seats, which is 3.13 per cent. After the passage of the bill, the number of MPs will increase from 17 to 26, which will be 3.18 per cent representation.
  • Keralam, which has 20 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, has a 3.68 per cent representation. After the passage of the bill, the number of MPs will be 30, and their percentage in the new House will be 3.67 per cent.

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Collectively, these states have 23.76 per cent representation with 129 seats out of a total 543 seats. After the bill is enacted, this representation will slightly rise to 23.97 per cent to 195 MPs.

"If we listen to the entire narrative created for the South, then out of the 543 seats created by you, 129 MPs currently sit in this House, which is approximately 23.76%. In the new House, 195 MPs will be sitting here, and their power will be 23.97%," Shah added.

Why are parties in southern states opposing Delimitation Bill?

The Opposition, including Congress and other southern state parties like DMK, has intensified its attack on the Modi government’s move to link women’s reservation with a fresh delimitation.

Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin has demanded the revocation of the Delimitation Bill, terming it illegal and an attack on India's federal structure.

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, on the other hand, has argued that population can not be the sole basis for representation. The primary concern of the southern states is that they have controlled the rapid growth of population, unlike the north, where population has grown rapidly in the last few decades.

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The CMs of the opposition parties in the southern states have flagged that representation on the base of population alone would be disadvantageous for the region.


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