India’s parliamentary expansion sparks north-south divide

By Sarwar Kashani

New Delhi, Apr 16 (EFE).- The Indian government’s proposal to expand the national parliament by more than 50 percent and redraw constituency boundaries has triggered a political backlash, reviving long-standing tensions between the more populous northern states and the economically stronger south.

The move, which could reshape the country’s political landscape for years to come, proposes to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, from 543 seats to around 850 as part of a fresh delimitation exercise based on updated population data.

The move is also linked to the long-pending implementation of the women’s reservation law, which requires one-third of parliamentary seats to be reserved for women following a new delimitation.

The proposed legislation is being introduced during a special parliamentary session that got underway on Thursday, reviving debate over a process that has not been fully implemented since the 1970s.

Under India’s constitution, parliamentary constituencies are meant to be redrawn after every national census, which is conducted roughly every decade.

However, seat allocation has effectively remained frozen since the 1971 census.

The 2021 census was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and India’s population count, covering more than 1.4 billion people, began this year and is expected to conclude next year.

The last completed census in 2011 recorded a population of 1.21 billion, but parliamentary seats have remained unchanged at 543.

According to the draft delimitation proposal, India’s demographic profile has changed significantly since 1971, with notable population shifts between states, prompting calls for redistribution of seats based on updated numbers.

The changes are likely to benefit the populous northern states, often referred to as the Hindi heartland, which form the core political base of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

These states accounted for about 50 percent of India’s population in 2011, compared with 43 percent in 1971.

By contrast, the share of the population in the five southern states, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, declined to around 20 percent from about 25 percent during the same period, largely due to better population control measures.

This uneven population growth has raised concerns in southern states that they could lose political influence despite stronger economic performance.

Analyses of the proposal suggest the Hindi heartland states could see their share of Lok Sabha seats rise from 38 percent to about 43 percent, while southern states’ share could fall from roughly 24.5 percent to around 21 percent.

Among the biggest expected gainers are Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous region, and Bihar – the two poorest states which together send 120 lawmakers to parliament.

Under the proposal, Uttar Pradesh could gain 58 additional seats, raising its representation from 80 to 138, while Bihar’s seats could increase from 40 to 72. Kerala, by contrast, would gain only three seats, rising from 20 to 23.

A rich South, a poor North

The debate is further complicated by economic disparities.

Southern states collectively account for about 30 percent of India’s gross domestic product, according to a 2024 report by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, which also noted that southern states have consistently recorded higher per capita incomes than the national average since economic liberalization in 1991.

Opposition parties, led by the Indian National Congress and regional southern parties, have criticized the proposal as an indirect attempt to alter political balance.

Congress leaders have supported women’s reservation but argued it should be implemented within the existing parliamentary strength.

They have also called for maintaining the current proportional distribution of seats among states.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said the proposal risks penalizing southern states for successfully controlling population growth and implementing development policies.

He also urged Prime Minister Modi to clarify that southern states would not lose representation, saying concerns raised by regional leaders remain unanswered.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy also warned that population size alone should not determine representation.

In a letter to Modi, he said a redistribution based solely on population could distort India’s federal balance and weaken fair regional representation. EFE

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