‘Damocles sword over southern states’: TN CM Stalin to chair all-party meeting on delimitation

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, will chair an all-party meeting in Chennai on March 5, to discuss the strategy to be adopted by the state with regard to the delimitation exercise to be carried out in 2026. The exercise could reduce the state’s representation in Parliament from 39 to 31, if the total number of seats is capped at the present 543.

Briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting, held at the secretariat on Tuesday, Stalin said that invitations will be sent to 40 political parties, registered with the Election Commission of India, in Tamil Nadu to participate in the all-party meeting. “It is a Damocles sword hanging over the head of the southern states. The number of Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu could come down from 39 to 31, if the current strength of Parliament is retained at 543.” If the numbers are reduced, it will be disadvantageous to Tamil Nadu and the state will not be able to to raise its voice in the parliament to demand its rights, he said.

Adding that Tamil Nadu has effectively controlled the population, as per the directions from the Centre, Stalin said that the states which have failed to implement population control could be rewarded with more number of seats during delimitation. “We will not be able to raise our voice in Parliament if this is implemented. It will be a loss for us. We need to protect our representation to ensure that we are able to raise our voice for our rights to oppose NEET, NEP 2020 and non-release of funds to the states,” he said, and added that the state will fight another language war if it is imposed on it.

Stalin also took to X to comment about the delimitation exercise.

The Tamil Nadu CM’s move to call all the registered political parties is apparently a departure from its earlier stance where it invited only representatives of legislative parties to discuss on pertinent issues concerning the state rights. However, Stalin’s call for an all-party meeting has once again set the tone for the Centre-state fight, with the state pressing for its federal rights. The fight for rights was renewed by the DMK, after a brief period, with Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement on NEP and the three-language policy.

Why is Tamil Nadu opposing delimitation?

A few months ago, while speaking at a wedding ceremony, CM Stalin greeted the newly-weds saying, “Be blessed with 16, like in the good old days.” Commenting on the proposed delimitation exercise, he asked, “Why should we have a small family?” It was a follow-up to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s remarks questioning the small family norm and that it cannot be taken in a lighter vein.

In February 2024, the TN assembly adopted a resolution unanimously opposing the delimitation exercise based on the deferred 2021 decennial census. As per Article 82 of the Constitution, a delimitation exercise is carried out once in every 10 years by the delimitation commission, after every decennial census. Based on it, the seats are determined and are reserved for the scheduled castes and tribes. The average population for one seat is 10.1 lakh. This was carried out every 10 years until 1971 and the Lok Sabha seats gradually went up from 494 to 543. After 1971, delimitation was frozen until 2000 through a constitutional amendment, to encourage population control measures by the states. And later it was extended till 2026. However, during the period from 2000 to 2021, the Lok Sabha seats were readjusted and some were deserved and few others turned to reserve constituencies - like Perambalur was deserved and Nilgiris was reserved. Periyakulam Lok Sabha constituency became Theni.

However, if the census is carried out in 2026 and then the delimitation process begins, Tamil Nadu might lose a few of its seats based on the reduction in population.