DMK, TDP should uphold their legacy of ensuring fair delimitation, says Jairam Ramesh
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh links the delimitation debate to constitutional freezes on Lok Sabha seat distribution and asks DMK and TDP to defend the 1971 Census reference in future parliamentary discussions.
- Delimitation determines how parliamentary seats are redistributed among States on the basis of population-related constitutional rules.
- The Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 extended the freeze on seat readjustment that kept the 1971 Census reference in place.
- The Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act, 2001 further extended the freeze on seat readjustment.
- Jairam Ramesh says Congress supports extending the freeze for another 25 years and wants DMK and TDP to defend fair delimitation.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has urged the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to uphold their legacy on fair delimitation. His argument is that the long-standing constitutional freeze on Lok Sabha seat allocation should not be disturbed without attention to federal balance and State-wise representation.
The dispute is important because delimitation affects how parliamentary seats are distributed among States. Ramesh says the political choice is whether India should continue using the 1971 Census as the reference point or move to a new redistribution formula that could favour more populous States.
Background and earlier position
UPSC can frame this as a constitutional and federalism issue: how delimitation, census data, and State-wise representation interact with political equality, federal balance, and women’s reservation in legislatures.
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