The Congress on Wednesday claimed that the Modi government is proposing to "bulldoze" a bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50 per cent with the number of seats allocated to each state also to be increased by 50 per cent, and said such a move would "disadvantage" smaller states in the South, Northeast and West.
There was no official word on the Opposition party's claims.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has already raised an alarm over the issue and others may very well follow as this proposal becomes officially public.
"The Modi government is proposing to bulldoze a Bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50%. The number of seats allocated to each state is also proposed to be increased by 50%," Ramesh claimed on X.
The argument that a 50 per cent increase in seats across-the-board is equitable is deceptive, he said.
Proportions may not change for the present but there are deeper implications that cannot be wished away, the Congress leader said.
"Any increase in the gap in the existing strengths of different states in the Lok Sabha will place South Indian states at a disadvantage," Ramesh alleged.
He pointed to existing disparities in representation, noting that Uttar Pradesh currently has 80 Lok Sabha seats compared to 39 in Tamil Nadu. Under the proposed expansion, Uttar Pradesh’s strength could rise to 120 seats, while Tamil Nadu’s may increase to around 59.
Similarly, Kerala could see its seats go up from 20 to 30, while Bihar may increase from 40 to 60. Overall, Ramesh claimed, northern states would gain around 200 seats compared to about 66 seats for southern states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unilaterally preparing a law which will disadvantage smaller states in the South, Northeast, and West, Ramesh claimed.
"The Chief Minister of Telangana has already raised an alarm. Others may very well follow as this proposal becomes officially public," he added.
Last week, taking a swipe at Prime Minister Modi, the Congress had claimed that the "U-turn Ustad" now wants to implement the women's reservation law without completing the delimitation and census exercises by passing amendments at a "special two-day session" of Parliament.
The opposition party had alleged that this was a "weapon of mass diversion" to change the narrative from the government's "foreign policy failures and setbacks and from the LPG and energy crisis facing the country".
Ramesh had said the Modi government is also planning to increase the size of the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas by 50 per cent, which also needs careful deliberation.
In September 2023, the new Parliament House was inaugurated with the passage of the women's reservation bill -- or Nari Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 -- that amended the Constitution to provide for one-third reservation of women in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas and also provided for one-third reservation for women in seats reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, Ramesh had pointed out.
The debate comes amid broader discussions on parliamentary reforms following the inauguration of the new Parliament building in 2023, when the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed, providing for one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Delimitation is the process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in the country. The number of seats remained unchanged at 543 in 2002. India witnessed the last Lok Sabha expansion in 1973.