Even as the Union government led by Narendra Modi has kept silent on the unprecedented trade and immigration wars unleased by the Trump Administration targeting India, which is threatening the entire economy, it has decided to weaponise the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies to create confusion and hide its failures.

While the governments of Canada, Mexico, and China have boldly declared that they will take retaliatory measures to meet the challenge posed by Trump's new tariffs, our own Vishwaguru has, it seems, meekly surrendered to Trump while bravely feeding lion and tiger cubs in Gujarat!
However, the Union government is very shrewd when it comes to the domestic front. In the last week of February, the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, said that the southern states would not lose a single parliamentary seat due to delimitation. He, however, did not give any details as to whether the delimitation will be carried out based on the population census 1971 as in the past or the 2021 census, which has yet to take place.

Reacting to Shah's statement, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said it was aimed at creating confusion among people. He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of using delimitation as a weapon to silence the southern states.

Siddaramaiah said Shah's comments aimed to create division and polarisation in the country. "If the Union government genuinely wishes to ensure fairness to the southern states the home minister must clarify whether delimitation will be based on the latest population ratio or or on the current number of Lok Sabha seats."

It is evident that if delimitation is carried out based on the latest population ratio, it will do severe injustice to the southern states. To avoid such injustice, the previous delimitation was based on the 1971 census following a constitutional amendment.

According to independent studies, if delimitation is done based on the present population, the number of Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka will decrease from 28 to 26. In Andhra Pradesh, the number of seats will drop from 42 to 34, Kerala's from 20 to 12, and Tamil Nadu's from 39 to 31.
At the same time, the number of Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh will increase from 80 to 91, Bihar from 40 to 50, and Madhya Pradesh from 29 to 33. In such an event, the voice of the southern states will be further weakened.

On March 5, 2025, most political parties in Tamil Nadu came together at a meeting called by Chief Minister MK Stalin to discuss the delimitation exercise due in 2026. In a resolution, the parties asked the Union government to extend the 1971 Census-based delimitation framework for another 30 years to ensure fair representation for states that have effectively controlled their population.

The population figures determine the number of seats in Parliament and state assemblies. The idea is to ensure that the number of people represented by a member of Parliament (MP) or a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) remains the same. This is per the principle of "one citizen, one vote, one value" under Article 81 of the Constitution of India.

According to the Constitution, the number of seats in the houses of Parliament and Assembly has to be readjusted after each Census. "Upon the completion of each Census, the allocation of seats in the House of the People and the States and the division of each State into territorial constituencies shall be readjusted by such authority and in such manner, as Parliament may by law determine," says Article 82 of the Constitution.
Further, Article 170 (3) of the Constitution says: "Upon the completion of each Census, the total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of each State into territorial constituacies shall be readjusted by such authority and in such manner as Parliament may by law determine."

The number of Lok Sabha seats was fixed at 494 after the 1951 Census and raised to 522 after the 1961 Census. However, since 1971, the number has remained fixed at 543. This number translates to about 10 lakh people represented by a member of Parliament.

During the Emergency (June 25, 1975, to March 21, 1977), the Congress government headed by Mrs Indira Gandhi passed the 42nd Amendment of 1976, which froze the number of Lok Sabha seats until after the first Census taken after 2000.

In 2002, the National Democratic Front government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee extended the freeze for 25 more years until 2026. The opposition parties, led by MK Stalin of the DMK, are urging the Union government to extend the freeze for another 30 years until 2056.