Amit Shah rejects Stalin's claim on seat reduction, reassures southern states on delimitation

Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday rubbished Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin's claim that the state would lose eight Lok Sabha seats if delimitation is carried out based on the population census.

Shah reassured at a rally in Coimbatore that no southern state, including Tamil Nadu, will see a reduction in parliamentary representation due to the delimitation exercise. His words came a day after Stalin called an all-party meeting in Chennai on March 5 to discuss the delimitation exercise, which he termed as "a sword hanging over southern states".

"I want to reassure the public of South India that Modiji has kept your interest in mind to make sure that not even one seat is reduced pro rata," Amit Shah said. "Whatever increase is there, Southern states will get a fair share, there is no reason to doubt this."


The delimitation exercise, expected next year, involves redrawing parliamentary constituencies based on population. One of the biggest concerns has been that it could alter the proportion of Lok Sabha MPs from southern states. The issue has been a huge point of contention between the ruling DMK and the BJP-led central government. "As the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, I bring to everyone's attention that the Lok Sabha delimitation exercise based on the 2026 Census is extremely dangerous. Southern states like Tamil Nadu have done a great job in controlling population growth. But if that is the reason why our strength in Parliament will decrease, if it can suppress our voice, how can it be justified?" Stalin posted on X.

At the time, state BJP chief K Annamalai had criticised Stalin for his remarks, accusing him of "fear-mongering" and spreading "imaginary fears and stupid arguments". Shah also touched upon the language issue by beginning his speech on Wednesday by apologising that he could not speak in Tamil which he said was one of the oldest languages in the world. His comments come at a time when there is a row raging on in the state relating to the three-language policy.