Population-based delimitation unjust to South, smaller states; put nation above party interest: Telangana CM

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister, A. Revanth Reddy, on Monday said that population-based delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies is unjust to southern and smaller states in the country. He warned that this move would weaken the country in the long run.

In a social media post addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister said that national interest must be above any party interest.

“It is clear to every citizen that women’s reservation (which everybody supports), and Delimitation of Lok Sabha seats (on which there are many concerns), are different. For example, if women quota is implemented immediately for state-wise Assembly seats, entire country will welcome it,” posted the Congress leader.

“Using women’s reservation as a red herring, attempts to push a population-based national Delimitation of Lok Sabha may serve the BJP in a very short run, but if it is unjust to Southern and smaller states, it will weaken our country in the long run. National interest must be above any party interest,” he said.

Revanth Reddy stated that in the larger and long-term view, models other than simple pro-rata for Lok Sabha delimitation be considered. “Here, I share one such potential models for your consideration. Kindly ensure we build a national consensus, starting with an all party view instead of pushing this significant policy in an unfair way,” reads the post.

The Chief Minister posted a Telugu newspaper report about the proposal for delimitation based on Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

Under this proposal, states with good economic performance will see a significant jump in the number of their Lok Sabha seats. States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala will benefit, if the GSDP-linked delimitation model is adopted.

Under this model, the Lok Saba seats in Telangana may go up from 17 to 30. Block A (south+west) and block B (remaining states) will get an equal additional seats of 136 each.

IANS