Increase of 50 percent in Lok Sabha seats will harm southern, northeastern, and western states: Congress

New Delhi, April 1 — The Congress party stated on Wednesday that increasing the total number of Lok Sabha seats by 50 percent at the regional level, in the context of implementing women's reservation, would not be justifiable, as it would disadvantage smaller states in the south, west, and northeast. There was no official response to the opposition party's claims.

Party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh mentioned that southern states would gain 66 seats while northern states would benefit by 200 seats. He noted that the Chief Minister of Telangana has already issued a warning, and other Chief Ministers may follow suit once the proposal is officially made public.

Ramesh claimed on 'X' that the Modi government is proposing a bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50 percent, with a similar proposal for a 50 percent increase in the number of seats allocated to each state. He argued that it is misleading to claim that a 50 percent increase in total seats is justifiable.

The Congress leader stated that while the ratio cannot change at present, there are deep implications that cannot be ignored. Ramesh asserted that any increase in the current numerical strength of various states in the Lok Sabha would harm southern states. He provided examples, stating that currently, Uttar Pradesh has 80 seats and Tamil Nadu has 39 seats. With the proposed bill, the number of Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh would rise to 120, while Tamil Nadu could have a maximum of 59 seats. Similarly, Kerala's Lok Sabha seats would increase from 20 to 30, while Bihar's would rise from 40 to 60.

Overall, southern states would gain 66 seats while northern states would gain 200 seats. Ramesh claimed that Prime Minister Modi is preparing a unilateral law that would harm smaller states in the south, northeast, and west.