K.T. Rama Rao slams Centre’s proposed delimitation, warns of fiscal discrimination against South India

Chennai: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday strongly criticised the Centre’s proposed delimitation move, warning that it could severely undermine the interests of South Indian states.

Speaking at the Joint Action Council (JAC) meeting on “Fair Delimitation” hosted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai, he emphasised that India’s democracy must be grounded in progress, governance, and economic contribution – not merely population figures.

“A fair system should reward progress and encourage development in lagging regions. If India is to become a superpower by 2047, a century after Independence, we must empower those driving growth, not silence them,” said Rama Rao, son of former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

He alleged that discrimination against Southern states is not a recent phenomenon but has intensified over the past decade under the BJP-led Union government.

“From the forcible imposition of Hindi to mega infrastructure projects like the bullet train being confined to the northern part of India, there is a clear pattern of bias,” he said.

Rama Rao expressed serious concerns about the Centre’s attempt to carry out the next delimitation exercise based on population, arguing that such a move would marginalise the South further and result in an unfair distribution of resources. Highlighting the fiscal imbalance, he pointed out that the five southern states contribute nearly 36 per cent to India’s GDP but receive a disproportionately smaller share of central resources.

“This raises fundamental questions about fiscal federalism and centralization. Delimitation based on population alone will deepen this inequity,” he warned.

“If we allow this to continue, we, as South Indian leaders, will be doing a great disservice to future generations,” he warned.

The meeting in Chennai marked a significant show of opposition unity against the BJP government’s proposed 2026 delimitation exercise.

Chief Minister Stalin, who spearheaded the initiative, has emerged as a central figure in rallying opposition voices on this issue. The first JAC meeting on “Fair Delimitation” saw participation from three other Chief Ministers – Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala), A. Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Bhagwant Mann (Punjab) – as well as Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and representatives from the Congress, the Biju Janata Dal, and the BRS.

Notably, West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress (TMC), though invited, did not send a representative to the meeting. This united opposition stand follows an all-party conference convened by Stalin in Tamil Nadu on March 5, where 58 registered political parties – excluding the BJP – came together to express strong opposition to the proposed delimitation. The DMK and its allies have argued that delimitation based solely on population growth disproportionately affects southern states, which have successfully implemented population control measures over the past decades. They maintain that such a policy shift threatens India’s federal structure and penalises states for effective governance.

As the 2026 deadline for the next delimitation exercise draws closer, the political mobilization against it is gaining momentum, with southern leaders insisting on a fairer formula that factors in economic contribution, governance performance, and development indicators alongside population.

–IANS