Delimitation weapon to silence southern states, Amit Shah’s statements not trustworthy: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

In a statement, Siddaramaiah said Shah’s comments aimed to create confusion in the southern states. “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 on the current number of Lok Sabha seats.”

“It is evident that if delimitation is carried out based on the latest population ratio, it will be a severe injustice to the southern states. To prevent such unfairness, previous delimitation exercises were conducted using the 1971 census as the basis, following Constitutional amendments,” Siddaramaiah said.

He said if the delimitation exercise is based on the latest census, then southern states, including Karnataka, will see either a reduction or stagnation in the number of Lok Sabha seats while the northern states gain more seats. “In either scenario, the southern states will bear the loss. Is the home minister unaware of this?” Siddaramaiah asked.

ರಾಜ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಆಗುತ್ತಿರುವ ಸರಣಿ ಅನ್ಯಾಯಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಡಿಯೂ ರಾಜ್ಯದಿಂದ ಲೋಕಸಭೆಗೆ ಆರಿಸಿಹೋಗಿರುವ ಹದಿನೇಳು ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಮತ್ತು ಇಬ್ಬರು ಜೆಡಿಎಸ್ ಸದಸ್ಯರು ಜೀತದಾಳುಗಳಂತೆ ಬಾಯಿಗೆ ಬೀಗಹಾಕಿಕೊಂಡು ಕೂತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ರಾಜ್ಯದ @BJP4Karnataka ನಾಯಕರು ಪರಸ್ಪರ ಕೆಸರೆರಚಾಟ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತಾ ಬೀದಿ ಜಗಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಗ್ನರಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

ಇಂತಹ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಜಾತಿ-ಧರ್ಮ… pic.twitter.com/jdLGVcIeIN

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) February 27, 2025

Referring to studies conducted on delimitation, he said that if delimitation was based solely on the latest census (2021 or 2031), the number of Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka is likely to decrease from 28 to 26. Similarly, Andhra Pradesh’s seats will drop from 42 to 34, Kerala’s from 20 to 12, and Tamil Nadu’s from 39 to 31.

“Meanwhile, the number of Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh will increase from 80 to 91, Bihar from 40 to 50, and Madhya Pradesh from 29 to 33. If this is not injustice, what is?” Siddaramaiah asked in the statement.

He alleged that the BJP government at the Centre has “now taken up the weapon of delimitation” to silence the voices of southern states further.