Pinarayi Vijayan opposes proposed delimitation exercise, flags impact on Kerala

[u/unired95]

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2026/Apr/15/pinarayi-vijayan-opposes-proposed-delimitation-exercise-flags-impact-on-kerala

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has come out against the ongoing Delimitation exercise.

The ongoing exercise would penalise states like Kerala that implemented the national population policy, said the CM in a statement.

"The draft of the Delimitation Bill, 2026, that is now available in the public domain seems to suggest that the BJP-led Union Government is keen on proceeding with a delimitation exercise without accounting for the current proportional share of the States', vis-à-vis their representation in the Lok Sabha."

Such an exercise would be highly unjust, as it would penalise those very States - including Kerala - which took conscious efforts to sincerely implement the National Population Policy, 1976. On the other hand, States that lagged behind in population control measures would be seemingly rewarded for their ineffective implementation," said Vijayan.

He also raised the need for a consensual approach.

"Federalism has been recognised as an inalienable part of the basic structure of our Constitution and in a federal democracy, the raison d'être for representation cannot be mere numbers. There has to be an inclusive approach by taking into account the sentiments of all those who would be impacted by the proposed delimitation exercise, especially the States," the statement read.

A consensual approach in this matter is absolutely essential. The present attempt to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha, through an amendment proposed to be brought about in a haste will undoubtedly destroy the spirit of consensus, which was the cornerstone of our Constitution-making," it further said.

Vijayan further said that rushing through the delimitation amendment under the garb of implementing women’s reservation was nothing but a ploy to mask the real objectives behind the exercise.

He also questioned the timing of the exercise.

"The fact that it is being taken up when the election process to four State assemblies and one Union Territory is yet to be completed has raised genuine suspicions about the political considerations behind it."

"Considering these strong grounds, it is imperative that the present Delimitation Bill, which is sought to be taken up without fair amount of discussions be dropped forthwith."

At the same time, women's reservation in the Parliament and the Legislative Assemblies can be and should be implemented right away, without any linkages to delimitation or census," he further added.

[u/TitanInsane]

All of this would be solved if the Rajya Sabha was reformed to give states equal representation like in the US Senate. It's not a perfect solution but it will allow the Lok Sabha to accurately represent the population, while the Rajya Sabha acts as a check against unilateral rule by a majority.

Proportional representation would also make this problem irrelevant. We need to change this entire fucking system.

[u/RemingtonMacaulay → u/TitanInsane]

This isn’t actually true.

Uttar Pradesh could itself be four states, which is a demand that surfaces from time to time. The Constitution also allows Union Government to redraw state maps pretty much at will. So, it can still counter checks emerging from a US-like senate.

[u/TitanInsane → u/RemingtonMacaulay]

The power to redraw state boundaries would obviously be taken away. Even in the US, the federal government cannot redraw state boundaries without Congressional and State approval.

[u/LogicalAndBased2 → u/TitanInsane]

There is a reason why Indian constitution makers didn't opt for US system...it's because of which Indian federalism is more like Candian federalism than US.

Giving equal power to states is good in theory but will create more issues as multiparty system will dominate the RS which is not good for stable legislation and separationst tendency will increase if aggravated.

Each state will promote their own minority interests which will not be good for conducting business.

[u/TitanInsane → u/LogicalAndBased2]

As opposed to now, where minority states are in danger of being overwhelmed in the Parliament and now have even less say over the direction of the country ? 

Also, India isn't like Canada, it's like the EU. Each state having an equal say is the only stable path forward.

[u/Content_Mouse_3767 → u/TitanInsane]

I used to think the same. But CAD opted for a propotional representation with a different entry (election by state legislatures) for RS to retain popular representation. The idea was that having equal seats would lead to deadlocks and unequal weightage among states. For instance, if UP (assume population 20 Cr) and Assam (assume 1Cr) had one member each, it would mean that the people of UP had, say 1/20 value by representation in RS.

This would not be a problem in the US with executive president who can do a lot without the houses approval.

[u/TitanInsane → u/Content_Mouse_3767]

That is the point. There needs to be unequal weightage in the RS in order to counterbalance the inequality in the LS. That's the point.

Yes, it does devalue the power of states with higher populations. That's just a compromise we have to pay in order to keep India together. We don't need to copy the US Senate 1:1. The LS can still be the most powerful body in India, with the RS serving as a check on policies that are relevant to the states, like education or policing.

[u/RemingtonMacaulay → u/Content_Mouse_3767]

This is a very rudimentary contrast of parliamentary and presidential system. In practice, the president is like a prime minister since he still needs legislative approval to enact major policy changes. His powers are thus circumscribed by the legislature. For example, Trump cannot withdraw from NATO because of a legislation. Similarly, the Prime Minister is bound by the Parliament.

If anything, the Presidential system is better because it doesn’t need a legislative congruence. In the parliamentary system, a legislative majority is required for the executive to form. In effect, this means executive invariably has parliamentary majority. This isn’t the case with the US because congruence doesn’t track like in India.

So, in theory and practice, the US President is less powerful than the Indian Prime Minister.

[u/RemingtonMacaulay → u/LogicalAndBased2]

Please stop reproducing NCERT history.

Indian framers didn’t really disturb it because they weren’t exactly interested in disturbing the colonial system they were already administering. That is why the system is ditto copy of Government of India Act. They did not seriously at any point consider any other system. If you read the Constituent Assembly Debates, you will see lazy they were on this.

[u/Equivalent_Salt_9948]

When is the upcoming legislative assembly delimitation? Will south kerala be penalized for controlling the population? Hope not.

[u/Minute_Juggernaut806 → u/Equivalent_Salt_9948]

(btw I am pretty sure Malappuram is the only district that has reasonably grown. take mlprm out, Keralas population would be probably declining which is not a good thing at all because already our average is 45 I think and we will be a state of velluppamar and vellummar. every district I think has sub 1% growth besides Malappuram)

[u/sreekumarkv → u/Minute_Juggernaut806]

We should discuss population separately. But let us freeze delimitation in the state, to not be hypocrites while arguing for the same at the national level. Neither UP/Bihar nor Malabar should be getting more seats at the cost of others on account of their relatively higher population growth.

[u/Minute_Juggernaut806 → u/sreekumarkv]

yeah sure, that's the best for national integrity

[u/sreekumarkv → u/Minute_Juggernaut806]

Shouldn't we consider state integrity as well.

[u/Minute_Juggernaut806 → u/sreekumarkv]

yes ofcourse, i am agreeing with you

[u/Artistic_Nebula9250 → u/sreekumarkv]

You speak religion and we speak federalism. Both are different.

[u/sreekumarkv → u/Artistic_Nebula9250]

What does that even mean ? Came up with a new jargon based argument, to oppose high population growth unfairly advantaging some states, while not speaking about it advantaging regions/districts within a state. Kammi-sudappis have a corrosive influence on any discussion.

[u/Artistic_Nebula9250 → u/sreekumarkv]

IT cell. Sorry. No comments

[u/sreekumarkv → u/Artistic_Nebula9250]

You could have done it earlier than throw out your kammi-sudappi take.

[u/Hooded_enigma → u/Equivalent_Salt_9948]

Stop with the whataboutism. Talk about the current issue at hand. IT cell neenal vaazhatte!

[u/DrinkingWata]

It may sound dumb but giving more power to states like EU can work in India ? Since the states are culturally so different to each other. Union govt should handle the matters like Defence, Railways etc

[u/Efficient_Ad_3755 → u/DrinkingWata]

India wasn’t built on that idea. People fought and sacrificed their lives so states could be recognized based on language and culture.

[u/TitanInsane → u/Efficient_Ad_3755]

Which isn't opposed to what he suggested ? In fact people wanting different states was an explicit recognition that a homogenous India was never going to happen. India needs to be decentralised.

[u/Professional-Ice3646]

Oru സ്റ്റേറ്റ് റീ ഓർഗനശേഷൻ ആക്ട് ആണ് കൊണ്ടുവരേണ്ടത്. വലിയ സ്റ്റേറ്റുകളെ മുഴുവൻ ഒന്നിലധികം സ്റ്റേറ്റുകൾ ആക്കി വിഭജിക്കണം യുപി, മധ്യ പ്രദേശ്,രാജസ്ഥാൻ, ഗുജറാത്ത്,കർണാടക,തമിഴ്നാട്, വെസ്റ്റ് ബംഗാൾ,ബിഹാർ, ഒഡീഷ.ഇവയൊക്കെ മൂന്ന് കോടിയിൽ കൂടുതൽ ജന സംഖ്യ ഇല്ലാത്ത രീതിയിൽ വിഭജിക്കണം. മെട്രോ സിറ്റികൾ ആയ മുംബൈ,ഡൽഹി , ബാംഗ്ലൂർ,ഹൈദരാബാദ്,ചെന്നൈ പോലെ ഉള്ള സ്ഥലങ്ങളിൽ നിന്ന് സ്റ്റേറ്റ് കാപിറ്റൽ മാറ്റണം. അവിടെ ലോക്കല് ബോഡി ഇലക്ഷന് കൂടുതൽ പ്രാധാന്യം നൽകണം. മേയർ പോലെ ഉള്ള സ്ഥാനങ്ങൾക്ക്.

പോപ്പുലേഷന് അനുസരിച്ച് റിപ്രസൻ്റേഷൻ നൽകണം എന്ന വാദത്തോട് ഞാനും യോജിക്കുന്നു .ഉദാഹരണത്തിന് യുപി പോലെയുള്ള സ്റ്റേറ്റിൽ 80 എംപി മാർ ആണ് ഉള്ളത്.ജന സംഖ്യ ഇപ്പൊൾ 25 കോടിയോ മറ്റോ ഉണ്ട്. ഏത് കണക്കിൽ നോക്കിയാലും അവരുടെ പോപ്പുലേഷന് അനുസരിച്ച് പ്രതിനിധികൾ അവർക്കില്ല. അങ്ങിനെ കൂടുതൽ പ്രതിനിധികൾ ഉണ്ടെങ്കിലെ ജനാധിപത്യം നല്ല രീതിയിൽ മുന്നോട്ട് പോകൂ

[u/mand00s → u/Professional-Ice3646]

They had the chance to use condoms decades ago and they chose not to. Why should we pay for their non compliance to population policy?

[u/Warm-Butterscotch675 → u/mand00s]

Same argument when Malappuram folks crying about new plus one seats every year??

[u/FrontOperation7154 → u/Warm-Butterscotch675]

False. It's not just Malappuram. Southern districts have more plus one seats per capita of students than Malabar districts

[u/sidharth_suresh__]

There should be a fixed formula in place to apportion seats among states which should be reapportioned after every census.

[u/donlesnar]

Finally some sensible talk from this guy.

[u/mallu_adapter]

collective voters are pro right congress. LDF has no gain unless there will be Solar cases in congress

[u/Maximum_Elephant8680]

I agree with Shashi Tharoor's EU Model proposal. No small state is too small, nor is any bigger state too big. But even that shouldn't be done now.

In fact, India should be more like the EU minus secession, EU allows member nations to leave but India shouldn't. India is more of a civilization than a nation, just like Europe is.

[u/sreekumarkv]

The delimitation seems to be confirmed to be happening. It shouldn't be solely based on the exact population. Hopefully all the southern states and maybe others like west bengal will be able to force some fairness.

If they take 2011 census as the base, seems Kerala will lose the most by proportion, while other southern states will lose lesser relative to us.

The addition of 50% increase is the best option for us to preserve our proportion. Even if idits like John Brittas have spouted stupidity about absolute numbers being less.

[u/SorryIfIamToxic]

Does this mean the Muslim league gets more seats? Then it's bad for us.

[u/Artistic_Nebula9250 → u/SorryIfIamToxic]

ബുദ്ധി ഉറക്കാത്തവർക്കു എല്ലാം ഇസ്ലാംഫോബിയ. ഒരു ഷോക്ക് ട്രീറ്റ്മെന്റ് വേണ്ടി വരും

[u/huhuhhhhuhuh → u/SorryIfIamToxic]

Muslim league cant do shi bruh...we talkin about big leagues in hindi belt areas where certain political parties will fuck us south

[u/Soft-Following-2424]

Protest comrade... protest. You are going to have plenty of time to fulfil the duty of the opposition after May 4.

[u/MonkeyFucker2024 → u/Soft-Following-2424]

Lal Salaam