Opposition urges 25-year freeze on Lok Sabha seats

A coalition of political leaders from several Indian states has called on the central government to extend the freeze on redrawing parliamentary constituencies for another 25 years. This freeze was originally put in place to encourage population control measures, based on the 1971 census. The meeting took place in Chennai and included leaders from both southern and northern states. It was led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who stressed the need for transparency in any future delimitation. The leaders expressed concern that redrawing boundaries based on population could disadvantage states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which have successfully controlled their population growth. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which did not attend the meeting, criticized the opposition, suggesting that this was an attempt to distract from the Tamil Nadu government's issues. They emphasized that any changes in constituency representation must be fair and not penalize states for effective population policies. Home Minister Amit Shah has sought to reassure southern states that they will not be unfairly reduced in parliamentary representation. However, critics worry that a new delimitation process based on population could increase the representation of northern states at the expense of southern states that have managed to control their growth. The next meeting of the coalition is set to take place in Hyderabad. Leaders from various parties spoke passionately about the need for equity in representation, insisting that any changes should acknowledge the contributions of states that have prioritized population control.