Chennai : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay introduced a resolution in the state Assembly on Wednesday opposing the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies, while expressing strong support for women’s reservation — provided it is implemented within the existing 543-seat framework. The TVK chief cautioned that southern states like Tamil Nadu, which have effectively controlled population growth, stand to lose parliamentary representation if delimitation proceeds on a population basis.
The move comes as the Centre intensifies efforts to build support for its delimitation bill, which it has tied to rolling out women’s reservation in Parliament and state legislatures. Speculation has been building over the past week that the government could introduce the constitutional amendment bill during the final two days of the Monsoon session.
The TVK-led resolution put forward three core demands:
Permanently retain the current strength of 543 Lok Sabha seats
Lock in the seat allocation currently held by each state
Guarantee 33% reservation for women in state assemblies
Vijay argued that passing the delimitation bill would penalise southern states for their success in curbing population growth, and stressed the need to freeze seat numbers at present levels. This development follows the defeat of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in April, when a united opposition blocked the proposal to lift the freeze on Lok Sabha seat expansion. That bill had sought to redraw constituencies using data from the 2011 Census.
Tamil Nadu, along with other southern states, has consistently maintained that tying delimitation to population figures would disproportionately favour northern states, which have seen faster population growth. Vijay reiterated that southern states had earned their current standing by successfully implementing population-control measures over the years, and he also pushed for preserving the existing 2.2:1 ratio between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats.
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