Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader M.K. Stalin’s call to ‘have more babies’ has sparked political controversy across the country. He linked his concerns to the potential implementation of delimitation based on population and census figures. However, this call appears to contradict Tamil Nadu’s long-standing stance on population control.
What Stalin Said
Earlier we used to say, take your time and have a baby. But now the situation has changed, and we should say it now,” he remarked. “So I won’t say take your time, but immediately have your baby.” CM described the issue as “sword dangling over Tamil Nadu.”
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting on February 25, he reiterated the state’s predicament. “If delimitation is implemented based on population census, Tamil Nadu will lose eight MPs. This will lead to Tamil Nadu losing representation in Parliament,” he stated.
What Is Delimitation?
Centre is in a process of redrawing of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituency boundaries based on population shifts. This idea is to ensure that each constituency has roughly the same number of people living in it. This can also be inferred, as population size will impact the redrawing of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituency boundaries. As per the Tamil Nadu CM, States with larger populations get more representatives in parliament than States with smaller populations. This is the major reason that DMK leader is opposing Centre’s delimitation process.
Why South Opposes Delimitation
The Constitution requires delimitation after every Census, but the number of parliamentary seats and each state’s share have remained unchanged since 1976. This is mainly because southern states have strongly opposed any changes. Due to differing economic growth patterns, South India has experienced slower population growth than the North. Apart from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh have also expressed concerns about losing their current share of seats after delimitation.
As a result, if delimitation were conducted using the latest population data, northern states would gain significantly more parliamentary seats, reducing the representation of southern states. The states feel that delimitation based on latest population data will reduce their representation in parliament.
In the 1977 Lok Sabha, each MP represented an average of 10.11 lakh people. While achieving absolute equality in constituency populations is unrealistic, ensuring they remain closely aligned with this average is crucial for fair representation. This concern is at the core of the Tamil Nadu CM’s push to boost population growth.
However, Home Minister Amit Shah has dismissed Stalin’s claim that the state would lose eight Lok Sabha seats due to delimitation. Stalin believes that without a higher population, Tamil Nadu may struggle to retain its current representation, with seats potentially shifting to northern states.
