Delimitation Meeting In Chennai: SP, RJD Didn't Get Invite, TMC Skips; TDP In Wait And Watch Mode

Several political parties that oppose BJP's delimitation met on Saturday to discuss their concerns about upcoming changes to India's election map. This meeting, led by Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister M.K. Stalin from the DMK party, showed that opposition parties don't agree on this important issue.

Why Southern States Are Worried

Southern states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka are very concerned about the upcoming "delimitation" process. Delimitation means redrawing the boundaries of constituencies and deciding how many parliamentary seats each state gets.

These southern states have done a good job controlling their population growth through family planning programs over the years. Now they worry they'll be punished for their success. Why? Because if population is the main factor in deciding how many seats each state gets in Parliament after the 2026 Census, states with smaller populations will lose influence.

The only southern state not worried is Andhra Pradesh, which is governed by TDP, an ally of the BJP-led NDA coalition.

Who Skipped the Meeting and Why

Many important opposition parties didn't attend the meeting:

• Parties from Hindi-speaking northern states like Samajwadi Party and RJD weren't invited.
• Maharashtra parties like Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP weren't included either.
• The Trinamool Congress from West Bengal chose not to attend because they're busy dealing with voter list problems for their upcoming state elections.

These northern parties aren't against the delimitation process. They're waiting to see what the BJP government proposes before taking a stand. This makes sense because northern states might actually gain more seats in Parliament if population is the main factor.

How the Numbers Could Change

Let's look at what might happen after delimitation:

In 1977, each Member of Parliament represented about 10.11 lakh people (1.01 million). If we keep this same ratio:

• Uttar Pradesh (including Uttarakhand) could jump from 85 seats to a massive 250 seats
• Bihar and Jharkhand together might increase from 54 to 169 seats
• Tamil Nadu would grow more modestly from 39 to 76 seats
• Kerala would increase from 20 to 36 seats

But if the government decides each MP should represent about 20 lakh people (2 million):

• Tamil Nadu would keep its current 39 seats
• Kerala would actually lose 2 seats
• Northern states would still gain seats, but not as many

How Different Parties Are Responding

The Congress party is being very careful about this issue. They currently govern two southern states (Karnataka and Telangana) out of the three states they control in India. They also want to win back Kerala next year and work with DMK in Tamil Nadu. Of their 99 seats in the Lok Sabha, 40 come from southern states. Congress leaders have said it's unfair to "penalize" states that successfully controlled their population.

The RJD party has an interesting position. They don't want to delay the delimitation, but they believe population shouldn't be the only factor considered. RJD's Manoj K. Jha, a Rajya Sabha MP, has suggested holding a special Parliament session after the Census to discuss what factors besides population should be used when redrawing constituency boundaries.

Unusual Political Alignments

This issue is creating some strange political partnerships:

• The BJD party, which recently lost to BJP in Odisha, still attended the opposition meeting
• The TDP party, which is part of the BJP-led coalition, reportedly has concerns about delimitation but didn't attend the meeting
• Jana Sena Party also skipped the meeting despite being invited

The debate highlights how this issue crosses normal political lines. Parties are more concerned about what might happen to their regions than about sticking with their usual political allies. As India moves closer to the 2026 Census, this disagreement about fair representation will likely become an even bigger political issue.