The last such exercise was carried out after the 1971 Census. The Constitution originally stipulated that delimitation be carried out after every census so that each MP represented the same number of people. In the ’70s, this stipulation was seen to penalise areas that had successfully implemented family planning policies, and the Constitution was amended to postpone the process till 2000. The Constitution was again amended in 2002 and 2003 specifying that the 2001 Census be used. After these amendments, delimitation keeps unchanged the number of seats from each state. It uses data from the 2001 Census to redraw constituencies to provide equal representation within each state. It also identifies constituencies to be reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The new constituencies would be in force till 2026.

While the population of several central and northern states has grown at a higher rate than the national average, the number of Lok Sabha seats for all states has not changed. Therefore, these central and northern states have a lower representation than their share of population. Indeed, the decision to maintain the number of seats constant was taken so that the delimitation process doesn’t disincentivise family planning. Whether the number of seats works as an incentive for couples to adopt birth control practices is a moot point. The process also doesn’t account for population changes by inter-state migration.

Four distinct issues arise from this decision. The primary one is whether the process deviates from the core principle of universal adult suffrage. The representation of a voter from Kerala (6.3 MPs per crore persons) is 42 per cent higher than that of a Rajasthani voter (4.4 MPs per crore persons). Variations of this magnitude clearly violate the concept of equal representation.

... contd.