Hyderabad: The Telangana government has passed a resolution in the Legislative Assembly opposing the Centre’s plans to carry out the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats following the 2026 population census.
Moving the resolution in the Assembly on Thursday, March 27, chief minister A Revanth Reddy stated that Union ministers from Telangana were dismissing the concerns of southern states, claiming that the Centre was not currently considering delimitation.
However, making it clear that the concerns of the southern states were both valid and real, Revanth Reddy pointed out that the Centre’s failure to increase the assembly seats of Telangana from 119 to 153, and Andhra Pradesh from 175 to 225 as per the AP Reorganisation Act of 2014, was indicative of its plans.
“When we requested the Centre to increase the Assembly seats of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as per the reorganisation act, they responded by saying it would be done after the 2026 National Population Census. However, they have already carried out the delimitation of Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir and are currently in the process of doing the same in Sikkim, following a resolution passed in 2018. This clearly exposes the Centre’s double standards and the half-truths being stated by Union ministers representing Telangana,” he said.
Telangana CM strongly opposes delimitation, warns of political imbalance
Revanth Reddy cautioned that the representation of southern states—Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, and Karnataka—currently stands at 24 percent of the total Lok Sabha seats. If delimitation is carried out based on population, this could drop to 19 percent.
He demanded that delimitation be conducted by considering each state as a unit, ensuring an increase in Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) seats, and raising the number of assembly seats in Telangana from 119 to 153 through constitutional amendments.
He made it clear that the southern states would not accept a population-based delimitation, as it would be unjust to those that have followed the Centre’s directives on population control since 1971 and have effectively implemented these policies.
“In the southern states, population growth has largely stabilised. The difference between births and deaths in Telangana is just 1.8 percent. Delimitation would become a limitation for the south,” he reiterated.
The chief minister announced that a massive public meeting would be held in Hyderabad to highlight the issue.
