Political parties in Tamil Nadu mainly DMK and Congress aired concern over South India's representation going down further after the census and delimitation. The Union government introduced Women's Reservation Bill to provide one-third of reservation to women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies but the bill will be implemented only after delimitation and census exercises. The next delimitation exercise will be held in 2026.
Following this, Tamil Nadu leaders aired concern over the issue of political representation provided on the basis of population. They said that if political representation was given based on population it would lower the representation of South India.
Tamil Nadu CM Stalin said, "Delimitation is like a Sword of Damocles hanging over the head of Tamil Nadu and south India. The political conspiracy to lower the political representation of south India must be outmanoeuvred."
The CM also demanded the Centre assure the people of Tamil Nadu and the whole of south India that the delimitation exercise would do no harm to the states that have managed to control their populations.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram welcomed the bill but raised concern over southern states being penalised for managing the population.
Karti Chidambaram said, "In principle, we welcome this bill. But at best, this is only a symbolic bill... There are two things that need to be done for this bill to be implemented, one is the census, which is a long-drawn process... After the census, there would be delimitation."
"It would be very problematic because if the seats are allocated based on population, southern representation will further go down. Southern states will be penalised...Without a census and a proper delimitation which would be acceptable to all, this bill will never be implemented," he said.
ALSO READ: Cases Within Family, A Mystery Death: How Kerala Doctor Helped Detect Nipah Outbreak On Time