59 seats in TN, 42 in Karnataka and 38 in Andhra: Amit Shah explains post-delimitation Lok Sabha math; assures no reduction in South’s representation

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday assured the Southern states that their representation in the Lok Sabha will not be reduced after the delimitation as he sought to explain the “practical interpretation” of the exercise.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha during a debate on the Constitution Amendment Bill that seeks early implementation of the women’s reservation and delimitation, Shah asserted that “the number of seats in the southern states will not be reduced.”

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He further stated that the Delimitation Commission law is strictly in accordance with the existing law. “There is no change. It will not impact the ongoing elections,” he said.

The minister further explained the post-delimitation Lok Sabha math, saying the representation of states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will remain almost the same.

“Almost 23.76 per cent is represented by MPs from South India. After the 50 per cent increase, there will be an increase from 129 to 195 MPs and their strength will increase by nearly 24 per cent,” he stated.

“In Karnataka, there are 28 Lok Sabha seats out of the total 543 and 5.15% MPs come from Karnataka in the house. After the bill is passed, the strength of Karnataka MPs will be increased from 28 to 42, while the representation will be 5.14%. So there is no loss to Karnataka,” he said.

In Andhra Pradesh, the home minister said, the number of Lok Sabha seats will be increased to 38 from the current 25, with a marginal rise in the state’s representation from 4.60 per cent to 4.65 per cent.

“In Telangana, there are 17 seats, while the representation in the house of 543 members, the representation is 3.13%. Now after an increase of 50% members, the seats will be increased to 26, while the representation will be increased to 3.18%,” he stated.

According to Shah, representation of Tamil Nadu in the lower house of Parliament is also set to increase after the delimitation exercise.

“39 MPs are elected from Tamil Nadu and in the house of 543 members, the representation is 7.18% and after the increase, the strength of MPs would be increased to 59 and their representation in the house of 816 members would be 7.23%,” he added.

After the delimitation exercise, the number of Lok Sabha seats are likely to increase from 543 to 816.

Shah’s clarification came after Opposition parties expressed concerns that northern states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan may be benefited more due to their population growth compared to the southern states.