New Delhi, Apr 16 (JKNS): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday clarified that there will be no reduction in the number of parliamentary seats for southern states, even as the Centre moves ahead with key electoral and census-related reforms.
Addressing concerns over delimitation, Shah as per news agency JKNS said, the total strength of the Lok Sabha is proposed to increase from 543 seats to a maximum of 850, while ensuring that no state faces any loss in representation.
He further stated that the Modi-led Cabinet has decided to conduct a caste census, asserting that the ongoing census exercise already includes caste-based enumeration and there is no need for confusion on the issue.
On the delimitation process, the Home Minister said that the Delimitation Commission law remains strictly in line with existing provisions and will not impact any ongoing elections.
Details indicate that the five southern states Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala currently hold a combined 129 seats in the Lok Sabha, accounting for around 23.76 per cent of the total 543 seats.
Karnataka has 28 seats (5.15%), Andhra Pradesh 25 (4.60%), Telangana 17 (3.13%), Tamil Nadu 39 (7.18%), and Kerala 20 seats (3.68%).
Based on a proportional increase scenario of nearly 50 per cent, the total seats would rise to around 816, under which the combined strength of these states would increase to 195 seats, maintaining a similar share of around 23.87 per cent.
Under this projection, Karnataka would have 42 seats (5.14%), Andhra Pradesh 38 (4.65%), Telangana 26 (3.18%), Tamil Nadu 59 (7.23%), and Kerala 30 seats (3.67%).
The data suggests that despite the increase in total seats, the overall percentage share of southern states in the Lok Sabha would remain largely unchanged. (JKNS)
