Delimitation: South India Won바카라�t Back Down

바카라�Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist & Nobel Prize winner

In India바카라�s ongoing North-South cultural divide, women and children have, as always, been drawn into the frontlines, not by choice, but by consequence. As southern states push back against fiscal injustice and linguistic imposition, a peculiar battle cry has emerged from Tamil Nadu: have more children.

At a wedding event in Nagapattinam on March 3 this year, Chief Minister MK Stalin urged people to expand their families as a strategic counter to the looming threat of delimitation. 바카라�I will not tell you to not have children hastily; have children immediately,바카라� he declared, linking reproduction to political representation.

His message was clear. Tamil Nadu, and, by extension the South, must strengthen its numbers to retain its voice in Delhi.

But not everyone down South is rallying to the call.

Many women, in particular, question why they must bear the brunt of political calculations. 바카라�Do women have to pay the price for the wrong policies?바카라� asks Shalin Mariya, a lawyer and feminist activist in Chennai. She likens Stalin바카라�s call to the RSS바카라� long-standing rhetoric urging Hindu families to have more children. 바카라�He said it more than once, so this isn바카라�t sarcasm. It바카라�s an overreach into the autonomy and liberty of women.바카라�

The resistance to delimitation isn바카라�t just about numbers. It highlights growing fault lines in India바카라�s federal structure.

On March 22, 2025, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin convened the first meeting of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) on Fair Delimitation in Chennai to address concerns over the proposed Lok Sabha seat delimitation based on population. The meeting saw participation from key leaders, including Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar. KT Rama Rao, the BRS leader, and former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik (via video call) also joined, along with representatives from the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), Congress, CPI(M), CPI and the Aam Aadmi Party.

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy warned that delimitation without equitable policies would be an irreversible injustice to the South. Karnataka바카라�s Shivakumar echoed this, accusing the BJP of tilting power toward the Hindi belt. Union Home Minister Amit Shah countered, insisting in Coimbatore last month that 바카라�no (TN) seats will be lost.바카라� However, without specifics, anxieties remain. The issue reached Parliament, where opposition parties staged protests against the Centre바카라�s stance. Shah accused the DMK of scaremongering and using the Hindi imposition debate to 바카라�hide your corruption.바카라� Opposition MPs, meanwhile, charged the government with attempting to suppress regional languages, deepening the North-South political divide.

The BJP-led Union government dismissed the JAC meeting as mere political theatrics, but the tremors of southern resistance are beginning to reshape India바카라�s federal discourse.

At the heart of this pushback from the collective southern political leadership is a simple demand: fairness.

The JAC has called for a 25-year freeze on parliamentary seats and a system that rewards states for fiscal prudence and population control. But as the debate rages on, the larger question remains. Will the South바카라�s fight for parity end in a truce or deepen the battle lines?

Seething South

Last year, in one of Tamil Nadu바카라�s most high-profile electoral contests for the Coimbatore seat, signs of Southern rhetoric were already in play. The keenly watched battle between Ganapathy Rajkumar P of the DMK and Annamalai K of the BJP바카라�who eventually lost by a huge margin바카라�offered a glimpse into the South바카라�s growing discomfort. At a joint Congress-DMK poll rally in Coimbatore on April 12, 2024, the stage itself was a replica of India바카라�s older, now-defunct Parliament building.

The new and much larger Parliament building, the new apex temple of Indian democracy, can accommodate 888 Lok Sabha MPs and 384 Rajya Sabha MPs, compared to the old building바카라�s capacity of 543 Lok Sabha MPs and 250 Rajya Sabha MPs. The anxiety among the South바카라�s political leadership stems from this potential increase in parliamentarians after the long-drawn delimitation process concludes.

While natural barriers and geographic compactness are key factors in delimitation, the most contentious parameter for southern politicians is population. Will a more populous northern India corner more seats, despite its poor performance on social indices?

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed the proposed delimitation a 바카라�Sword of Damocles바카라� hanging over the southern states. 바카라�When smaller or less populous states lose political clout, their capacity to safeguard their cultural traditions diminishes. A homogenised Parliament dominated by populous states could sideline regional priorities, eroding the pluralism envisioned by modern India바카라�s founders,바카라� he said at the JAC meeting. He also stressed that federalism is not a gift from the Union but a right of the states. 바카라�Our collective resistance is not just about seats; it is a fight to preserve India바카라�s pluralism and diversity.바카라�

바카라�It is an attempt to expedite the establishment of a theocratic state,바카라� says MA Baby, a politburo member of the CPI(M). 바카라�Delimitation in its current form would only strengthen the BJP바카라�s power in Parliament. Any single party gaining absolute dominance would be lethal to our democracy,바카라� he warned.

Stalin described the JAC as a 바카라�national movement바카라� for fair representation in the Lok Sabha, calling it a 바카라�historic day for Indian federalism.바카라� On March 21, the day before the meeting, he posted on X that it was more than just a meeting. It was the beginning of a movement.

Stalin and the DMK have taken pole position in articulating southern angst over delimitation, pushing back against what they see as a raw deal for states south of the Vindhyas. Yet, within Tamil Nadu, the party faces criticism from opposition parties like the AIADMK, which mocks its stance. 바카라�Do you remember when DMK staged a protest against the union government? All the black flags have gone. When Modi came to Tamil Nadu last year, Stalin went to welcome him with a white umbrella. They do not want to antagonise the government,바카라� says AIADMK spokesperson Babu Murugavel, referring to Stalin바카라�s welcome for Modi in Tamil Nadu at the time. The reason? Enforcement Directorate (ED) cases against DMK ministers, claims Murugavel. The DMK calls the ED action a political vendetta. But while treading carefully, the party has managed to keep the 바카라�Centre versus State바카라� fire burning.

The Hindi Headache

Tamil Nadu바카라�s resistance to Hindi stems from its strong Tamil identity. In 1937, EV Ramaswamy, alias Periyar, led protests against compulsory Hindi in schools. The movement peaked in 1965 when plans to make Hindi India바카라�s sole official language sparked violent agitations, self-immolations and mass protests, cementing Tamil Nadu바카라�s defiance against linguistic imposition. Now, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has rekindled old tensions. Stalin rejects it outright: 바카라�Let BJP states teach 30 languages, just leave Tamil Nadu alone.바카라�

But local opposition outfit, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam바카라�s deputy general secretary CTR Nirmal Kumar accuses the DMK of theatrics and not doing enough to take on the centre. 바카라�Where are the black balloons now?바카라� he asks, referring to a unique protest in 2018 featuring 바카라�Go Back Modi바카라� slogans by the DMK during Modi바카라�s visit to Chennai.

Meanwhile, Stalin바카라�s son and Deputy Chief Minister, Udhayanidhi, has warned of another language war, while BJP바카라�s Annamalai has called out the DMK바카라�s hypocrisy, pointing to private schools that teach Hindi. The DMK contends that the NEP lacks legitimacy as it was never debated in Parliament. The battle over language, much like Tamil Nadu바카라�s defiance, refuses to fade.

Fiscal Folly

Tamil Nadu, a key economic powerhouse, contributes significantly to national tax revenues but receives a disproportionately lower share in return from the Centre. This fiscal imbalance, driven by the Finance Commission바카라�s focus on equity over efficiency, has long fuelled concerns over unfair resource allocation between industrialised southern states and their northern counterparts.

Tamil Nadu바카라�s Fiscal Contribution and Devolution Share

Rs 6.23 lakh crore: Tamil Nadu바카라�s tax contribution to the Centre (2014-23)

Rs 4.75 lakh crore: Funds received from the Centre (2014-23)

29 paise: Return per Rs 1 contributed

Declining Share in Central Tax Devolution

• 12th FC* (2005-10) 바카라� 5.305 per cent

• 13th FC (2010-15) 바카라� 4.969 per cent

• 14th FC (2015-20) 바카라� 4.189 per cent

• 15th FC (2021-26) 바카라� 4.079 per cent

*FC = Finance Commission

CM Stalin바카라�s Demand: Increase states바카라� share to 50 per cent in the 16th Finance Commission (2026-31)

바카라�Edited by Mayabhushan Nagvenkar

This article is a part of Outlook's April 11, 2025 issue 'Viksit South', which explores the growing north-south divide in India. It appeared in print as 'A Southern Storm'.