NEW DELHI: Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday strongly opposed the proposed nation-wide delimitation exercise, alleging that the central government aims to reduce Lok Sabha seats in southern states.
“The Congress party opposes delimitation. They (Centre) want to reduce the seats of the Southern states. We are not happy with whatever they are doing. We will fight with the Election Commission in the court of law for the people. Reducing seats of any southern state is not right,” Shivakumar said.
His remarks come amid concerns that the delimitation process could alter parliamentary seat allocations, potentially impacting the representation of southern states.
Earlier on Thursday, Shivakumar also reiterated Congress’s stance against the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal while supporting women’s reservation. “The stand of our party is very clear. We are against One Nation, One Election. We are for women’s reservation,” he told reporters.
When asked about the delimitation issue in Tamil Nadu, he pointed out the need for a two-thirds majority for the process to proceed. “If delimitation has to be done, there should be a two-thirds majority. There is no two-thirds majority, so it will not happen,” he said.
Meanwhile, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah dismissed Union home minister Amit Shah’s assurance that southern states would not face any disadvantage in the delimitation process.
“Going by the home minister’s vague remarks, it seems that either he lacks proper information or there is a deliberate intent to disadvantage the southern states, including Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh,” Siddaramaiah said.
He further demanded clarity from the central government. “If the Union government genuinely wishes to ensure fairness for the southern states, the home minister must clarify whether delimitation will be based on the latest population ratio or the current number of Lok Sabha seats,” the Karnataka CM added.
In his speech at Coimbatore on Wednesday, Shah said, “Sometimes it feels as if DMK has let all the corrupts in the society join DMK through a membership drive… MK Stalin and his son are raising several issues to deviate from the real issues. Today, they are going to have a meeting regarding delimitation. PM Modi had made it clear that even after delimitation, seats of none of the states of South will be decreased.”
