Punjab Congress Fears Delimitation Will Give It Same Number Of Lok Sabha Seats As Haryana, Calls For All-Party Meeting

Punjab Congress fears that the delimitation exercise might put it at the same pedestal as its neighbouring 'younger brother' Haryana, Indian Express reported. Currently, Punjab has 13 seats in the Lok Sabha, while Haryana has 10.

However, since the population growth in Haryana surpasses that of Punjab, which is thought to be due to the influx of people from other states to the National Capital Region (NCR), Punjab fears its consequences in the delimitation exercise.

Recently, Partap Singh Bajwa, the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly and a Congress leader, called on leaders from all parties in Punjab to collaborate and deliberate the advantages and disadvantages of delimitation, and to collectively resist it if necessary.

This comes after a similar attempt from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, leader of Congress ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), who demanded delimitation to be based on the 1971 census in an all-party meeting last week.

Before Bajwa, Congress member of Parliament (MP) from Chandigarh, Manish Tewari feared that even the northern states would lose out as their percentage of the total strength of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will go down.

He pointed out that the only region that would benefit from this would be central India. He also hinted at possible tensions between Punjab and Haryana, questioning whether Punjab would accept having the same number of Lok Sabha seats as Haryana. Tewari called for a new approach to this issue.

Bajwa stated that under one proposed formula, which would increase the total number of parliamentary seats to approximately 848, the increase in Punjab's share would be relatively small compared to high-population states such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh.

The Congress leader emphasised that the BJP has already established dominance in these states, but pointed out that Punjab remains an exception. He suspected that the BJP has every incentive to maintain the current delimitation strategy as it is yet to make significant headway in Punjab.

Referring to longstanding disputes, Bajwa said that it is part of “the continuous attempts being made to sabotage Punjab’s claim on its capital and rivers” under the Narendra Modi government at the centre.

“Conspiracies are being hatched to destroy Punjab’s economy with last year’s paddy procurement crisis being an example,” he alleged.