HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday called for a united front among southern states, warning that the proposed delimitation exercise could structurally weaken their collective voice and deepen regional imbalances in Parliament.
Writing to his counterparts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry — MK Stalin, N Chandrababu Naidu, Siddaramaiah, Pinarayi Vijayan and N Rangaswamy — he said “a fragmented response will not suffice”, urging coordinated engagement to ensure southern concerns are effectively represented at the national level.
Framing the issue as one that goes beyond routine seat redistribution, Revanth cautioned that the current approach risks institutionalising disparities in political representation. He proposed a “hybrid model” for increasing Lok Sabha seats, describing it as “just one suggestion, a possible approach”, and said consultations and parliamentary debate would help reach a “just and acceptable” outcome. The model, he said, would ensure that no state is penalised for progress while maintaining democratic representation and giving all regions a fair voice.
Linking delimitation to fiscal trends, the chief minister pointed to disparities in financial devolution, stating: “In the matter of financial devolutions, we are facing severe financial injustice, bias and discrimination… This is just an example of the South-North divide that we have been facing for decades.”
Widening imbalance
In separate letters, he detailed how the proposed model could widen the representation gap between southern states and Uttar Pradesh. To Naidu, he wrote: “Andhra Pradesh currently has 25 Lok Sabha seats, while Uttar Pradesh has 80 seats, a gap of 55 seats. Under their proposed model, AP will increase from 25 to around 38 seats, whereas Uttar Pradesh will increase to 120 seats. This expands the political gap from 55 seats to 82 seats, thereby structurally widening the imbalance in representation.”
To MK Stalin, he noted: “Tamil Nadu and Puducherry together currently have 40 Lok Sabha seats… Under their proposed model… this expands the political gap… thereby structurally widening the imbalance in representation.”
Similar projections were shared with Siddaramaiah and Pinarayi Vijayan, indicating that Karnataka’s gap could rise from 52 to 78 seats and Kerala’s from 60 to 90 seats in comparison with Uttar Pradesh.
Revanth said such changes would not merely alter numbers but could reshape the federal balance, reiterating that only a collective response from southern states could address the issue effectively.