All the world’s a stage, said the bard. And all politics is essentially a live audition. The rhetoric ricocheting in public space is designed to amass attention and allegiance. Leaders audition with utterances for a role within the party and/or for touch-screen devotees. Parties script screenplays for a larger share of the electoral market.
The din of decibels in public discourse over the process of delimitation illustrates the pattern. The issue is about inclusion and representation of people, but the imagery unravelling on screens in living rooms suggests a prismatic, partisan north-south divide and the electors are simply herded between binary arguments of nationalism and separatism.
Shorn of jargon, delimitation is the process of redrawing constituencies to reflect the ideal ratio of elected representatives and population. India’s governance architecture—the number of MPs, MLAs and representatives in local bodies—has been frozen with the 1971 census numbers and comes up for review in 2026, to be based on the latest census.
This weekend, chief ministers and opposition leaders met in Chennai at the invitation of Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister M K Stalin to form a joint action committee for fair representation. At the current population of 1.4 billion, it is estimated that the number of seats in the Lok Sabha would touch 753, with the number seats in Uttar Pradesh rising from 80 to 143 and in Bihar from 40 to 79. The fear is that the ‘north’ with its higher population will benefit, and the ‘south’ will be penalised for success in population control. Underlying these concerns is the fear of being outnumbered in the national power matrix.
Meanwhile, the sovereign in this democracy—that is, the voters—are rendered mute spectators. The question that begs to be asked is whether India needs more MPs at all. The thesis of more MPs translating into better representation and outcomes merits interrogation. Malkajgiri in Telangana has the largest number of voters—around 3 million—with a per capita income of Rs 2.95 lakh, which is well above the national average. Contrast this with a constituency with a better population-MP ratio in any large state.
Clearly, the promise of prosperity depends on the quality of governance in the state. To appreciate this, consult the structure of governance in Schedule 7 of the Constitution. Every issue that haunts Indians is largely in the domain of state governments. Take allocations in the Union budget—the largest ministries with the largest allocations are all state subjects. To paraphrase the late N T Rama Rao, every inch of the nation is administered by the state and the Centre is a conceptual abstraction.
It is true Indians need better representation to hold governments accountable. The question is whether this representation has to be in parliament or in the states. The power to deliver basic services like health, education, security, power and water are vested with states. Consider the landscape of expenditure.
In 2023-24, state governments spent Rs 57 lakh crore and the Centre Rs 45 lakh crore. Land and labour reforms—critical for job creation—are pending with state governments. The bulk of the 69,233 compliances enterprises are burdened with are in the domain of states.
What is the global experience across unitary and federal systems? The US House of Representatives has been frozen at 435 members for over a century—from one representative for every 209,447 people in 1910 to one for every 747,184 last year. The number of MPs in France has been at 577 since 1986. The UK parliament had 658 MPs in 1796, and post-tweaks hosts 650 seats since the 1980s. The correlation between representation and betterment is scarcely linear.
Sure, Indians deserve better representation. Last week, I asked a group of informed CEOs if any of them had seen their MP. One hand went up. In Pune, successive MPs have neglected new areas such as Baner and failed for 20 years to get the city its airport.
How has the cohort of 543 MPs performed? Here are some questions. When did the Lok Sabha last debate why India has over 5 crore cases pending in courts? Or why the Union government is the biggest litigant, with 7.2 lakh cases? Why is there no clarity on when the census will be held? Or why 3,894 census towns are tagged neither urban nor rural?
Indians deserve better political representation and this can be structured in three phases. To start with, transfer form, funds and functions (the Finance Commission can do it) to the third tier of governance. India’s urban landscape, home to taxpayers, suffers from issues ranging from water scarcity and mobility to housing and poor air quality.
The promise of last-mile governance embedded in the 73rd and 74th amendments—grounded for three decades—must be revived. The second phase would be the expansion of the number of MLAs across states to improve responsiveness. Finally, initiate a uniform 33 percent enhancement in the number of MPs to accommodate the promise of 33 percent reservation for women.
Context is critical in politics and policy. The crux is in the framing of the issue. India’s economic growth is propelled by states in the south and the west—indeed, 31 per cent of India’s GDP in 2023-24 came from the southern states. It is therefore critical—particularly in the light of global uncertainties and challenges—that the balance of power is not disturbed for short-term political gains. This calls for a national consensus, not factional confrontation.
Shankkar Aiyar
Author of The Gated Republic, Aadhaar:
A Biometric History of India’s 12 Digit
Revolution, and Accidental India
(shankkar.aiyar@gmail.com)