All-Party Meeting Opposes Centre’s Delimitation Proposal, Calls for Scientific Approach

Hyderabad: An all-party meeting convened by the state government to discuss the Centre's proposed delimitation of constituencies based on population has unanimously urged the Central government to postpone the process until a scientific methodology is established.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu chaired the meeting on Monday, accompanied by senior Congress leader K. Jana Reddy. It was attended by the leaders of the Congress, CPI, MIM, CPM, CPI-ML, AIMIM and the Republican Party of India.

Addressing the meeting, Bhatti Vikramarka said any delimitation process should ensure the continued political relevance of southern states in the Lok Sabha. He urged political parties to formulate a strategy to counter the potential disadvantages that southern states, particularly Telangana, may face due to delimitation.

He stated that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had called for the meeting, highlighting the need to protect the dignity and influence of the southern states in national politics.

Bhatti Vikramarka said that BRS leaders did not attend the meeting, in spite of being invited due to political reasons, while BJP state president G. Kishan Reddy was engaged in Parliamentary sessions and other commitments.

AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi suggested that the Assembly should debate the matter, pass a unanimous resolution opposing population-based delimitation, and forward it to the Central government.

Senior Congress leader Jana Reddy stressed the need to raise awareness about the potential ramifications of delimitation, warning that it could lead to national unrest. State government advisor K. Keshava Rao proposed postponing the delimitation process until a scientifically sound methodology is established.

CPI Legislative Party leader K. Sambasiva Rao and CPM state secretary John Wesley advocated for proportional seat allocation for southern states in line with the number of seats that northern India gains. Leaders like Kunamneni and Wesley further suggested that political parties should continuously deliberate on finding a viable and scientific solution.

National parties, including the Congress, CPI and the CPM, recommended formulating a nationwide policy on constituency delimitation. The meeting concluded with an agreement that this was a preliminary discussion and that further deliberations and action plans would be formulated in the coming days.