Chennai: Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Thursday alleged a "bigger conspiracy" was being hatched to punish the south Indian states for their good performance through the impending delimitation exercise and expressed hope that political parties fighting for state rights will resist the move.
In his address at "The Southern Rising Summit" held by ABP Network here, the state Youth Welfare and Sports Development minister said south Indian states implemented the population control programme effectively in the 1970s. "A bigger conspiracy is being hatched to punish the Southern States for their good performance, through the impending Delimitation exercise of Lok Sabha Constituencies," he said.
"The South Indian States implemented the (population control) program effectively. Their population growth rate slowed, in comparison to states that did not implement the program well, whose population continued to grow at a higher rate. This effectively reduced the population share of the South Indian States. Today, this is being used against us, the south Indian states," he alleged.
The Constitution mandates that each state must receive seats in proportion to its population, and constituencies should be of roughly equal size to the population. The Union Government "pushed" states to reduce population in the 1970s, this principle was kept in abeyance through a constitutional amendment. The amendment to the Constitution passed by the Parliament in 1976, froze the number of seats in the Lok Sabha till 2000, he said.
