Revanth Reddy Warns Delimitation Could Redraw India’s Map at the South’s Expense

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has launched a sharp attack on the central government over the coming delimitation exercise, accusing the Prime Minister and the Home Minister of attempting to “redraw India’s political map” in a way that would concentrate power in the north at the expense of southern states.

Speaking this week, Revanth Reddy claimed that proposed changes could push Telangana’s Lok Sabha seats up from 17 to 26 and its Assembly seats from 119 to 182 — but argued that any such increase would be meaningless if northern, higher-population states gained far more, tilting the national balance decisively away from the south.

The population question

At the heart of the dispute is how parliamentary seats are allocated. For decades, the number of Lok Sabha seats has been frozen, partly to avoid penalising states that successfully controlled population growth. States like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala invested heavily in family planning, health and education, and now fear that a purely population-based redistribution would punish them for that very success.

If seats are reallocated strictly on current population, projections suggest states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar would gain the most, while several southern states could see their relative weight in Parliament shrink. For regional leaders, that raises fears about everything from tax devolution to bargaining power on national policy.

Revanth Reddy urged parties across the south to set aside their rivalries and speak with one voice, warning that the issue cuts across the usual party battles that dominate Telangana politics.

The Chief Electoral Officer, meanwhile, has been dealing with a parallel controversy over electoral rolls. Officials clarified that only voters who submit enumeration forms under the ongoing SIR-2026 exercise will appear in the draft rolls, with those left out able to file Form 6 from August 1 — a process that has added to the political temperature.

The central government has not accepted the charge that delimitation is designed to disadvantage any region, and the final shape of the exercise is still being debated. But by framing it as a north-versus-south fight, Revanth Reddy has ensured the issue will remain at the centre of Telangana’s political conversation in the months ahead.