Karnataka Minister Sharan Prakash Patil expressed concerns about the proposed delimitation process and urged the Centre to ensure that the number of seats in southern states is protected. Speaking after an all-party meeting on delimitation, Patil emphasized the importance of safeguarding southern states’ representation in the parliament.
“The BJP government is not comfortable with the southern states because they don’t have numbers in the south. They are trying to do this thing. If they want to be fair, they should protect the number of seats in the south if they want to do the delimitation,” Patil told media.
He also warned that the delimitation process could lead to a disproportionate representation of southern states. “The southern states will be affected because their representation in parliament might not go down, but it will not increase proportionately. The increase in the number of seats in the southern states should reflect the existing proportion,” he said.
Patil further criticized the BJP, stating, “BJP has the agenda of nationalism in their slogans, but not in their actions. They don’t work in the public interest. They have a hidden agenda of the RSS, which is only protective of the minimal 5-20 percent of the upper caste of this country.”
Earlier, the all-party meeting, chaired by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, passed a resolution urging Prime Minister Modi to assure Parliament that any delimitation would be based on the 1971 population census and cover the next 30 years from 2026. The meeting saw participation from 58 parties out of 64 invited, with key political groups like BJP, Tamil Maanila Congress, Pudhiya Tamilagam, and Naam Tamilar Katchi opting not to attend.
The resolution stated that the all-party meeting “unanimously strongly opposes delimitation based on population,” citing concerns that such a move would threaten India’s federal structure and negatively impact the representation of Tamil Nadu and other southern states.