Central govt must ensure ‘coordination of opinions’: Pinarayi Vijayan amid delimitation row

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM (Kerala): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday urged the central government to ensure “coordination of opinions” while making decisions on Lok Sabha constituency delimitation.

“The central government should be prepared to take a decision on the issue of Lok Sabha constituency delimitation through coordination of opinions,” Vijayan said.

Suggesting that the delimitation process must not meddle with the number of parliamentary seats, he said that states, which have implemented population control measures, shouldn’t be punished since it would be “unfair”.

“The delimitation should be done without reducing the existing proportional share of seats of any state. States that have effectively implemented population control measures should not be punished. It is unfair to reduce the proportional representation in Parliament for states that have reduced their population in accordance with the population control programs and family planning policies introduced by the Central Government after independence,” Vijayan said.

“It would be tantamount to rewarding states that have failed in all these,” the Kerala CM added.

Vijayan also referred to the “temporary freezing” of the delimitation process in 1976 due to the enforcement of the 42nd Constitutional Amendment, which remained in place until the 2001 census to encourage population control.

“The delimitation process was previously carried out in the country in 1952, 1963 and 1973. However, in 1976, this process was temporarily frozen through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment until the 2001 census. This was to promote population control,” he added.

Raising doubts over the central government’s claims about the delimitation process, Vijayan said their assurances that southern states would receive additional seats on a proportional basis could not be taken at “face value.”

“The central government’s arguments that the southern Indian states will get additional seats on a pro-rata basis cannot be taken at face value. The centre has not been able to provide clarity on whether this pro-rata distribution is based on the percentage of the current parliamentary seats or the basis of population figures. In either case, the southern Indian states are losing representation,” he added.

The Kerala CM also urged the central government to avoid unilateral decisions and uphold democracy and federalism.

“The central government should be ready to address the concerns of the southern Indian states. It is the responsibility of the central government to avoid unilateral measures and preserve the essence of democracy and federalism,” Vijayan said. (ANI)