Telangana became the second state in the south today, with the state assembly passing a resolution against the delimitation exercise that is expected to take place before the 2029 general election. Amid the huge row over delimitation - which contend that it will supress southern states, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy moved a resolution which sought that pressure be brought on the Centre to stop the population-based exercise.
"The house expresses its deep concern on the manner in which the impending delimitation exercise is being planned, without transparent consultations with stakeholders," the resolution read.
Later, in a post on X, Mr Reddy said, "We passed a resolution today asking the Centre not to take any steps that compromise the political self-respect and legitimate rights of our people. People of Telangana and citizens of all other states of south India are united in protecting our rights".
"We will fight against all attempts to take away our rights. The first battle was won today. The war ahead is long but we will eventually prevail," he added.
As the leader of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, we passed a resolution today asking the Centre not to take any steps that compromise the political self-respect & legitimate rights of our people.
— Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) March 27, 2025
People of #Telangana & citizens of all other states of south India, are united...
"The Southern states implemented family planning strictly. The threat of the South representation declining from 24 per cent to 19 per cent cannot be not ruled out if the delimitation is done by taking population as main criteria," Mr Reddy told the assembly today.
The Central government, he added, is making use of delimitation of constituencies to keep control of the southern states.
Mr Reddy also sought that the number of seats in the state assembly be increased from 119 to 153, according to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act.
The huge opposition to delimitation is being spearheaded by Tamil Nadu, which was the first to pass a resolution against it in 2024.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently claimed that southern states would not lose any seats.
Days later, Chief Minister MK Stalin held a meet on the matter -- the first concerted move against delimitation in which leaders from six states participated. The meet was attended by three Chief Ministers, a deputy Chief Minister and leaders from seven states, which also passed a resolution seeking a freeze on the 1971 census based delimitation for another 25 years.
The meet also demanded that the Centre form a core committee of MPs to counter any move that would weaken the federal structure, calling the delimitation exercise a ruse to punish and disempower southern states.
States should not be penalised for good governance, and for implementing population control measures should not be penalised.
Earlier, Mr Reddy had urged the Centre to increase the representation of southern states from the current 24 per cent to 33% in the Lok Sabha, arguing that states contributing more to the GDP should have a stronger voice in parliament.
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