Delimitation will penalise states that managed population and reward those that haven't: Wilson

New Delhi: DMK's Rajya Sabha member P Wilson on Wednesday said that implementing delimitation of parliamentary constituencies at this point would unfairly penalise states which have successfully managed populations and reward those that have not.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Wilson also made a demand for a holistic approach towards delimitation of constituencies for Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

He said delimitation was conducted after each census in 1952, 1962, and 1972 to ensure fair representation of all states.

Wilson said while some states embraced family planning policies, others ignored the issue allowing their populations to grow unchecked, and therefore to address this inequality, the 42nd constitutional amendment freezed delimitation based on 1971 census data for 25 years, thereby safeguarding states that manage their population from losing political influence.

The freeze on population growth was extended through the 84th constitutional amendment following the recommendation of the national population policy in 2000, which expected stabilisation of population growth across all states by 2026, he said.

"Data shows that the states like Tamil Nadu have a total fertility rate of 1.7 and Kerala TFR of 1.8 indicating that these states have successfully stabilize their population. In contrast, Uttar Pradesh has a TFR of 2.4, Bihar has a TFR 3.0 which means that these states continue to experience exponential population growth," the DMK MP said.

This suggests that the original reasoning for lifting the freeze in 2026 is no longer valid, he said.

"Implementing delimitation at this point would unfairly penalize states that have successfully managed by the populations while rewarding those that have not," he said, and added the consequence could be disasters for states like Tamil Nadu and others that have effectively controlled their population.

The DMK MP further said if Parliament strength is increased based on 2026 census, states like Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh are protected to gain more than 150 additional seats collectively.

In contract, southern states -- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana -- will gain only 35 seats collectively, Wilson said.

Further, if the current 543 seats in Lok Sabha are retained and redistributed based on 2026 census, Tamil Nadu will lose eight seats, while Uttar Pradesh and Bihar will gain 21 seats, he added.

According to him, states that have effectively implemented the National Family Planning Policy will face penalties, which will result in a loss of political representation and bargaining power.

"This shift will favour states that have not adhered to the National Family Policy Planning. Why? Why should we forfeit our rightful representation and political leverage? Why are the states that neglected family planning being rewarded with increased representation? "This is nothing short of a political coup against those states that have remained committed to our national vision," Wilson said.

He further said that if the Constitution is not amended before 2026 to extend the freezing, the delimitation will kick in and automatically be done from 2026 onwards.

He urged the prime minister to address the issue.