DMK MP Tiruchi Siva and other party MPs protest outside Parliament over delimitation issue

New Delhi: Tiruchi Siva, a member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and other party members demonstrated outside the Parliament on Monday against the delimitation issue. DMK MP Tiruchi Siva told the media earlier today that southern states shouldn’t be negatively impacted by the delimitation process and asked the central government to find a substitute.

In 2026, the delimitation process is scheduled to be completed. The constitution mandates that it be carried out under the population. Because the advancements in birth control must be recorded, it was previously resolved to have it after 25 years in the 42nd and 84th Amendments. Tamil Nadu and the other Southern states would suffer if the delimitation process is carried out in that manner. We are demanding that the government change in a manner that ensures the Southern states will not be impacted by this delimitation process and that they must find a different solution,” Tiruchi Siva said.

DMK MP Tiruchi Siva told ANI that he was worried about the delimitation process and that Tamil Nadu and other states will lose a lot of seats if it were based on population.

Tamil Nadu and other states would lose a lot of seats if it is decided by population. From 20 to 12, we will descend from 39 to 31 in Kerala. There won’t be equitable representation in the Parliament as certain states would get 30–40 more members, according to Tiruchi Siva.

In his plea for a unified political front against the planned delimitation process, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin urged different parties to unite against what he described as a “blatant assault on federalism.”
In a letter dated March 8, Chief Minister Stalin urged the chief ministers of seven states—among them those ruled by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)—to help him in the “fight against this unfair exercise.”

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, and leaders of all political parties in those states have all received letters from him inviting them to join him.

Congress has supported CM Stalin’s delimitation position. The party has not yet said whether they plan to attend the March 22 Joint Action Committee meeting, however.

Congressman P Chidambaram had already voiced his concern that Southern states will lose 26 seats in the Lok Sabha and that their opinions would go unheard if delimitation were to be carried out.

“Delimitation is a significant problem. In 1971, it was frozen. Delimitation and seat redetermination will follow a census conducted after 2026. Our calculations indicate that our southern states, which now have 129 members, would drop to 103 seats if the number of states is altered and the distribution is adjusted to reflect the present population of states. According to Chidambaram, the populous states with expanding populations—particularly Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan—would gain seats while the five southern states will lose 26 seats.