The Union government has allayed fears that the delimitation process, aimed at implementing 33% women's reservation in legislatures by 2029, will be disadvantageous to southern states. Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said an attempt was being made to 'mislead' the southern states that they will lose out in the delimitation exercise.
Rijiju stated that despite controlling population growth and having fewer people proportionally, the southern states will still gain seats. He added that the delimitation commission will decide the final numbers and consider factors such as population of SC and ST communities, geographic expanse, etc.
The government's proposal involves raising the cap on seats in the Lok Sabha from 550 to 850, with the allocation of seats to states, reserved constituencies, and their boundaries being defined by the delimitation commission based on the 2011 census.
The Opposition, however, continued to express reservations about the increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats and the delimitation process. They claimed that the bills being introduced in the name of implementing Women's Reservation amount to a death warrant for federal India.
