Chennai: In a move that also saw rivals ruling TVK and opposition DMK coming together in the assembly to raise a shared demand, the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday passed a special resolution moved by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay urging the Centre to permanently freeze the strength of the Lok Sabha at 543.
The resolution also demanded that the existing distribution of parliamentary seats among states amid be protected concerns over a future delimitation exercise.
Significantly, the former ruling party also endorsed the resolution although they had disagreements with some provisions of the resolution. The DMK had also mulled agreeing to support the proposed delimitation on condition that the increased strength of state assemblies would be capped at one and a half times of the current.
Moving the resolution, CM Vijay said the number of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats allotted to states and union territories had remained protected from population-based redistribution for decades, with the 1971 Census forming the basis for the long-standing freeze.
The Chief Minister referred to a constitutional amendment bill that was defeated in Parliament in April 2026. The proposed legislation sought to remove the restrictions on delimitation, redraw constituencies on the basis of the 2011 Census and substantially increase the strength of the Lok Sabha.
CM Vijay said reports that a similar proposal could be brought before Parliament again had renewed concerns in Tamil Nadu. Any redistribution of parliamentary seats based on a Census conducted after 1971 could adversely affect Tamil Nadu and other southern states that had successfully controlled population growth, he said.
The Chief Minister argued that states which effectively implemented population-control programmes promoted by the Union government should not be penalised by losing their relative representation in Parliament.
States that had achieved stronger economic growth and improved healthcare and public welfare indicators also deserved protection during any future delimitation exercise, he said.
The resolution urged the Centre to permanently retain the total strength of the Lok Sabha at 543 and freeze the existing inter-state allocation of parliamentary constituencies, thereby protecting the proportional representation currently enjoyed by individual states.
It also called for maintaining the existing 2.2:1 ratio between the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The House also sought implementation of the quota in subsequent state Assembly elections without further delay.
During the debate, in addition to the DMK, other parties including CPI(M), CPI, VCK, and IUML extended support to the government’s resolution, although differences emerged over some of its provisions.
The BJP, AIADMK and PMK opposed parts of the resolution, while the BJP, AIADMK and DMK backed the provision seeking early implementation of women’s reservation.
The ruling BJP alliance had been using the Opposition's rejection of the clubbing of the two bills as opposition's reluctance to implement one-third women's quota in legislatures. The Opposition has kept clarifying that once ethe women's quota was linked from the delimitation of seats, they would be ready to support the quota bill.
After the party-wise debate concluded, the resolution was put to a voice vote. Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar declared that the special resolution moved by the Vijay government was adopted by the Assembly.
(based on IANS feed)