'Freeze seats for 25 years': Congress backs Vijay-led TN govt's delimitation stand

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has stated that the Congress party desires to maintain the current allocation of Lok Sabha seats for a further 25 years, without altering the existing 543 seats or Tamil Nadu's 39 constituencies. Chidambaram also revealed that both the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and the Congress Working Committee have passed resolutions echoing this position, calling for no change to the current Lok Sabha strength or Tamil Nadu's seat allocation for the next 25 years.

The Congress leader's statement came as a response to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay's concerns over the proposed Delimitation Bill, 2026. Vijay expressed worries that southern states might lose parliamentary representation if seats are redistributed primarily based on population. At the Southern Zonal Council meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Vijay urged the Centre to ensure that states with stabilized populations would not be penalized through a reduction in their parliamentary representation.

He highlighted the importance of maintaining political representation, given that the freeze on Lok Sabha seats allocation based on the 1971 Census is set to expire soon. The Tamil Nadu Assembly had earlier passed a resolution demanding the permanent retention of Lok Sabha's strength at 543 seats, with another resolution advocating for the immediate implementation of 33 percent reservation for women in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections based on the existing seat allocation.