Indian Electoral Politics: Shifting Sands
Up until 1976, seats in the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and state assemblies were reallocated to maintain nearly equal population representation. But the 42nd Amendment froze the number of seats until the 2001 Census.
https://theprint.in/opinion/delimitation-in-india-north-vs-south/2589801/
The 50-year freeze on the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies—initiated during the Emergency in 1976 for an initial 25-year period—has now snowballed into an acrimonious debate between the South and the North. As scholar Ravi K Mishra’s recent book Demography, Representation and Delimitation shows, the current discourse is riddled with factoids overshadowing facts.
Multiple issues—ranging from intra-state equity and parity among Lok Sabha MPs to the Finance Commission’s population-based fund devolution—have been collapsed into one, posing a serious challenge to building consensus on this contentious issue.
Elections to the region hold significant importance as they will determine the true identity of the Shiv Sena and NCP, test the newly formed alliance, and have an impact on the upcoming assembly elections.
what we’re witnessing is an unmistakable anti-Bharatiya Janata Party sentiment. Conversations with people in western Maharashtra reveal a deep-seated dissatisfaction with the BJP’s divisive tactics. Voters hold the party responsible for the rift within the Nationalist Congress Party, and a similar sentiment extends to Uddhav Thackeray in the Konkan-Mumbai region. Interestingly, despite the party splits, a large number of the original NCP and Shiv Sena cadres remain loyal to Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, respectively.
In Maharashtra, besides the sympathy waves after the spilt of Shiv Sena and NCP, a significant factor at play is that people prioritise local issues over national ones. In rural areas, there is palpable resentment toward the BJP, largely stemming from the agrarian crisis, fair pricing for crops, Goods and Services Tax on agricultural products, and the failure of factories to pay sugarcane dues.
by Aamir Shakil
04/05/2024
North South Divide in Parliamentary Representation - https://youtu.be/Hqm1j1zeuMI?t=164 Real Purpose of the New Parliament | Will South be Destroyed? | Akash Banerjee & Adwaith
If new delimitation is implementated: Full South India will get 164 seats where as UP & Bihar will have 222 seats
UP: 143, Bihar: 79, AP 54, Karnataka 41, Tamil Nadu 49, Kerala 20