HYDERABAD: The Telangana Legislative Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution expressing its "deep concern" over the impending delimitation exercise "without any transparent consultations" with stakeholders. The resolution also urged the Union government to introduce necessary Constitutional amendments for enhancing Assembly constituencies from 119 to 153 pursuant to the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Moving the resolution in the Assembly, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that "delimitation is a limitation for the South”.
He said that if the Centre carries out delimitation on the basis of population, the representation of South India in the 453-member Lok Sabha will come down to 19% against the current 24%.
Stating that delimitation was a "planned attack" against the South, the chief minister pointed out that while the Centre claims that it is mandated to carry out delimitation in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, it implemented the exercise in Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim. “The Centre's claims on delimitation are half-truths,” Revanth stated. "The Centre's decisions, and the hallucinations it creates, are entirely different. This is a very dangerous phase, and alarm bells are ringing," he said.
Recalling that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had said that delimitation on the basis of population would ruin friendly and cordial relations between the states, the chief minister opined that this could have been the reason for amending the laws concerning provisions on delimitation.
He also explained how South India was at the losing end for strictly implementing India's family planning policy. The Chief Minister said that the Southern states were being given less than 50% for every rupee they contribute, while Northern states receive between 2.5 (Madhya Pradesh and UP) and 6.06 (Bihar) for every single rupee.
"If the South's representation in the Lok Sabha decreases to 19% after delimitation based on population, governments at the Centre could be formed without any representation from the South," he observed.
The resolution moved by the chief minister reads: "This House expresses its deep concern on the manner in which the impending delimitation exercise is being planned, without any transparent consultations with the stakeholders. The House urges that any delimitation exercise should be carried out transparently and after extensive consultations with all state governments, all political parties and all stakeholders.
“The states that have effectively implemented the population control programme pushed by the Centre, and consequently whose population share has come down, should not be penalised, and hence, the population should not be the sole yardstick for delimitation. It is to be noted that the purpose and intent behind the 42nd, 84th and 87th Constitutional amendments aimed at national population stabilisation are yet to be achieved.
“Hence, while continuing with the freeze on the number of Parliamentary seats, taking the state as a unit, redrawing the boundaries of Parliamentary constituencies can be taken up, duly augmenting SC and ST seats based on the latest population and also providing for reservation for women.
“Further, the House resolves that in order to strengthen representative democracy, the number of seats in the state Assembly should be immediately increased from 119 to 153 pursuant to the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 and as per the latest census. This House urges the Union Government to introduce necessary Constitutional amendments for this purpose."
