BRS working president and Telangana Industry Minister KT Rama Rao expressed concern over the fate of southern states post delimitation in 2026. He said they are facing the prospects of losing Lok Sabha seats despite performing well in terms of population control.

KT Rama Rao called on leaders and people cutting across political affiliations to raise voice against this injustice.

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There is growing concern among the southern states that they might lose out on the race for representation since the delimitation exercise is based on population and the five southern states are lagging behind their northern counterparts on the population front.

The northern states, which didn’t do well on the population front, will reap the harvest of representation with additional Lok Sabha seats at the cost of the southern states. Rao called it a “travesty” of justice while retweeting a Twitter post on the concern over post 2026 delimitation.

“Southern states of India have been best performers on all fronts post Independence. Leaders and people of all southern states need to raise their voices collectively cutting across political affiliations against this injustice,” He said.

Adding to his earlier tweet, KT Rama Rao contended that the southern states whose contribution to the nation’s GDP is way beyond that of the north they should not be penalised for doing well on the population front. Decline in the fertility rate has ensured slower growth in population of southern states in comparison to their northern counterparts.

“The irony of the situation is that those states that have not heeded to the government of India’s decision on population control will now have the last laugh. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the states that have done exceedingly well in population control, will now be penalised! Not only population control and human development index, the southern states that account for 18 per cent population of India contribute 35 per cent to the country’s GDP. Proud contributors to the national economy and growth should not be undermined.”

Delimitation based on population will lead to a sharp rise in seats for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh followed by states like West Bengal and Maharashtra in Parliament while the reallocation of seats could lead to decreased number of seats for the southern states. This could reduce political representation and consequently adversely affect the southern states with reduced allocation of resources.