The Congress party warned on Tuesday that the upcoming delimitation exercise will unfairly penalize states that excelled in family planning, reducing their Lok Sabha representation. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a detailed X post, claimed states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh, which curbed population growth, stand to lose seats, while populous states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar will gain significantly.

Citing a 2019 study by scholars Milan Vaishnav and Jamie Hintson, Ramesh outlined potential seat shifts based on projected 2026 population data. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh-Telangana could each lose eight seats, Odisha three, West Bengal four, Karnataka two, and Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttarakhand one each. Conversely, Uttar Pradesh might gain 11 seats, Bihar 10, Rajasthan six, Madhya Pradesh four, and Jharkhand, Haryana, Gujarat, Delhi, and Chhattisgarh one each. Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, and Maharashtra remain unaffected.

“The states losing seats are being punished for their success in reducing total fertility rates—a national goal,” Ramesh argued. He highlighted that southern states, early adopters of family planning, face diminished political clout as a result.

The row intensified after Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin, in letters sent last Friday to leaders in Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, Punjab, Odisha, and party heads, proposed a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to oppose the exercise. Stalin suggested a March 22 meeting in Chennai to strategize, noting two possible delimitation scenarios: redistributing the current 543 seats or expanding beyond 800, both based on population.

The Constitution mandates delimitation post-Census to adjust constituency boundaries, but it was halted in 1976 until 2001 to promote population control, then deferred again until after 2026. Congress argues this now disadvantages states that heeded the call, urging a rethink to ensure equitable representation.