Delimitation Debate | 'India should now think of extreme decentralisation': Nilakantan R.S.

The topic of delimitation has turned into a South vs North debate, with most of the States in south India expected to lose seats in a demography-based delimitation exercise. The southern States strongly oppose any redrawing of Lok Sabha constituency boundaries solely on the basis of current population figures as it would not only reduce their political representation at the national level but also amount to penalising them for adhering to the national policy of population control.
Nilakantan R.S., data scientist and author of the bestselling book South vs North: India’s Great Divide, suggests that extreme decentralisation could be a way out. In an exclusive interview with Frontline, Nilakantan says the answer lies in making the prize, which is the government in Delhi, less attractive. He says that altering the structure of governance in the country so that the States get more powers could be a way out.

Context:
Southern States and those north of the Hindi belt fear a sharp reduction in their political influence due to delimitation upon redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha constituencies. There is concern that delimitation based on population could impact policy decisions related to linguistic and cultural uniqueness.
The attempt to form a Joint Action Committee (JAC) followed a meeting of 58 of the 63 registered political parties in Tamil Nadu on March 5, where parties, setting aside political differences, passed a resolution demanding that the number of seats in the State in percentage terms (7.18 per cent of the total seats in the Lok Sabha) not be reduced. The BJP and a few of its closest allies in the State did not attend the meeting.
At that time, it was decided to call for a meeting of all political parties of the southern States to form the JAC. But realising that States in north and east of India also stood to lose seats—pretty much all of India barring the nine States in the Hindi heartland—the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) extended invitations to political parties and leaders from these States as well.
On March 22, leading politicians from seven States took part in a JAC meeting in Chennai, demanding fair delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies when it is taken up. This exercise should not punish States that had achieved their population control goals, the leaders said. Chief Ministers of three States (Tamil Nadu's M.K. Stalin, Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan, Telangana's Revanth Reddy), a former Chief Minister (Odisha's Naveen Patnaik), a Deputy Chief Minister of another State (Karnataka's D.K. Shivakumar), and representatives from political parties demanded fair delimitation and posed this as an attack on federalism.

Highlights: 
• What delimitation means in terms of Lok Sabha numbers 
• Numerical and political ramifications of delimitation 
• Basic "one vote, one value" principle of delimitation
• Solutions to the delimitation problem 
• The South vs North problem in Lok Sabha delimitation 
• Links of delimitation with women's reservation

Perfect for: 
• Students of Indian politics
• Those interested in how India's political parties think 
• Those who wish to know more about policymaking in India 
• Anyone interested in why socio-economic disparities exist between different States
• Anyone who wishes to understand how realpolitik works in India

Read the interview here: https://frontline.thehindu.com/politics/delimitation-south-vs-north-india-political-representation-debate/article69343966.ece

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Credits:
Interviewer: Soni Mishra
Production Assistant: Kavya Pradeep M.
Produced by: Abhinav Chakraborty

Editing by: Sumiesh S.

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