“The whole world is encouraging or incentivising better performance, but unfortunately, here, it's the other way around. If a state is performing well, you are penalised for it,” Kerala MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan said at THE WEEK Tamil Nadu Leadership Summit held in Chennai on March 2.
Speaking about the impending delimitation exercise, Kuzhalnadan, who represents Muvattupuzha constituency, noted that while there is a constitutional requirement to conduct the process based on population, it has been deferred since the 1970s precisely because it threatens to upset the federal balance and plurality of India’s democracy. Kuzhalnadan argued that the current push for delimitation is driven by political motives, warning that penalising southern states for their successful implementation of population control and developmental mandates is highly unacceptable and requires urgent national debate before being implemented.
The Congress leader pointed out that while southern states contribute over 30 per cent to the national GDP with only 20 per cent of the population, a population-based delimitation would diminish their political voice. He argued it is time to rethink the constitutional framework to ensure that states are rewarded, rather than sidelined, for their economic and developmental progress.
“If I look at the case of Kerala, the 10th Finance Commission share from the Centre was around 4 per cent. Now, with the 15th Finance Commission, we are getting 1.1 per cent. There is a drastic reduction. The reduction is because we progressed well in literacy, education, and healthcare,” he said.
Kuzhalnadan emphasised that India’s linguistic state identities are deeply emotional, and warned that penalising states for their progress creates a sense of receiving a "raw deal" from the Centre, which could fuel regional resentment. He further cautioned that pushing delimitation solely on population without addressing these concerns could intensify these emotions and lead to significant political turmoil.
Kuzhalnadan advocated for a balanced approach that supports lagging regions without disincentivising high-performing states. He warned that if the current "yardstick" remains, states may lose the motivation to excel if their progress results in diminished political and financial standing.
While emphasising that southern states coming together for a fair deal when it comes to delimitation, Kuzhalnadan also gave a glimpse of the federal structure operated in identical democracies.
“If you look at the United States, they have a federal system where they have a House of Representatives strictly on the population base and a Senate. If you look at the Senate, every state has two Senators. California, which has a population of 39 million, has two representatives, and Wyoming, with less than 1 million population, also has two Senators. That shows every state is being equally represented, and their interests are being taken care of,” he said.
When asked how a national party like the Congress balances the competing aspirations of the North and the South regarding delimitation, Kuzhalnadan dismissed the idea that such a position is a handicap. "There is a slightly wrong notion of being a national party," he said, explaining that being national does not mean speaking only for the majority, but rather providing a platform where leaders can voice specific regional, linguistic, or cultural identities without being confined by them.
He argued that national parties are actually better equipped than regional ones to navigate the complexities of delimitation. "When regional parties take up this issue, it can be seen as divisive or confined to a specific territory," he noted, whereas a national party can effectively mediate these concerns across the country.
