Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday said that the 1971 census must remain the basis for delimitation of Lok Sabha for the next 30 years, The Indian Express reported.

Stalin’s demand, at an all-party meeting on the topic, came amid concerns about a population-based nationwide delimitation exercise that could hurt southern states’ representation in Parliament.

On Wednesday, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader proposed to set up a committee comprising MPs from the southern states to draft a joint response to the exercise.

The meeting was attended by ally Congress, the Left front and the Opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, among others. The parties agreed on opposing the proposed delimitation exercise, The Indian Express reported.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, Tamil nationalist party Naam Tamilar Katchi and the Tamil Maanila Congress boycotted the meeting.

Stalin said at the meeting that a delimitation exercise “solely based on population figures will be a gross injustice” to Tamil Nadu and other southern states. “We are not against the delimitation exercise, but we want justice to be rendered to us,” Deccan Herald quoted him as saying.

Delimitation is the process of redrawing the boundaries of Lok Sabha constituencies. Article 82 of the Constitution states that after every census is completed, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to each state must be adjusted based on changes in their population.

The composition of the current Lok Sabha is based on the 1971 census. According to the 84th Amendment Act of 2001, the constituency boundaries were frozen until the first census after 2026, which would be due in 2031.

However, southern states have expressed concerns that population-based delimitation could give an undue advantage to northern and central states in the Lok Sabha.

In February 2024, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution against the proposed delimitation.

On February 25, Stalin had claimed that the delimitation exercise could cost his state eight Lok Sabha seats.

“Tamil Nadu is compelled to wage a major battle for its rights,” he had said. “The threat of delimitation is hanging over the southern States like a sword of Damocles.”

A day later, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the southern states would not lose a single Lok Sabha seat on account of the delimitation exercise.

“I want to reassure the public of South India that Modi ji has kept your interest in mind to make sure that not even one seat is reduced pro rata,” Shah said at an event in Coimbatore. “And whatever increase is there, southern states will get a fair share, there is no reason to doubt this.”

Following this, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed that Shah’s assurances were not credible. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy alleged the BJP was conspiring to weaken southern states politically and financially.

On Monday, Stalin urged newly-married residents of Tamil Nadu to “immediately plan” on having children.

“Earlier, I used to ask the newlyweds to take time before expanding their family,” he said. “Now with the delimitation that the Union government is planning to implement, such advice does not stand.”

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