Lokesh Questions Congress Stand On Delimitation Bill And Seat Allocation Formula
Lokesh questions Congress stance on Delimitation Bill, sparking political exchange.
TDP National Working President Nara Lokesh on Friday launched a political counterattack on the Congress party over its stance on the Delimitation Bill, questioning why it opposed a constitutional amendment aimed at ensuring proportional increase in parliamentary representation for states. The exchange comes amid an ongoing political debate triggered by senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram’s criticism of Lokesh’s earlier remarks on the issue.
Lokesh, who also serves as a minister in the Andhra Pradesh government headed by his father N. Chandrababu Naidu, took to social media platform X to respond to Chidambaram’s comment that he should “do the math again” before speaking on delimitation. The TDP leader said the opposition to the Constitution Amendment Bill raised serious questions about Congress’s position on the long-term representation of southern states in Parliament.
Referring to constitutional provisions, Lokesh argued that Article 81 of the Constitution currently freezes the allocation of Lok Sabha seats based on the 1971 Census. He pointed out that this freeze is expected to end after the first census conducted post-2026, after which a fresh delimitation exercise would become necessary. According to him, this process could reduce the relative representation of southern states compared to northern states if not addressed through appropriate constitutional safeguards.
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Lokesh claimed that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had attempted to correct this imbalance through the proposed Delimitation Bill and a proportional increase in parliamentary seats for all states. He further questioned whether the Congress party’s opposition to the bill was politically motivated, asking why a mechanism designed to prevent a reduction in southern representation would be resisted in Parliament.
He also sought clarity on whether the Congress accepted that southern states would lose relative representation after the 2026 Census under the current framework. Lokesh argued that if such an outcome is inevitable, then opposing corrective measures raised concerns about the party’s commitment to protecting the interests of southern India in the national legislative structure.
The remarks came after P. Chidambaram responded to Lokesh’s earlier comments by stating that opposition parties had rejected the Constitution Amendment Bill because calculations showed that southern states could lose relative strength in the Lok Sabha if Article 81 is applied without changes. Chidambaram also said the NDA’s proposal to increase seats by 50 per cent per state was misleading, and urged Lokesh to re-examine the figures before making public statements.
The exchange highlights growing political friction over delimitation ahead of the post-2026 census period, with southern parties raising concerns about representation and federal balance, while national parties continue to debate the constitutional and numerical implications of any future seat redistribution exercise.
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