Delimitation issue being raised with an eye on 2026 State elections

At a time when the Southern States have united to seek assurance that their political representation will not be impacted by delimitation, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the timing of raising this issue seems political ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu elections.

“The Census has to happen, the delimitation commission has to be set up, and this commission then has rounds of discussions with every State and then only this process begins. This takes even a year sometime. There is no reason to start this protest now,” she said in a select media interaction on Saturday. Both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have also offered assurances on this subject in the Parliament, she added.

The issue comes into focus as the the amendment to the Constitution, which extended the 25-year freeze on the number and State-wise distribution of Lok Sabha seats, expires in 2026.

“That [the expiry of the amendment] is a different issue, but to imagine that a delimitation commission will be set up and finish its job before 2026 and that it will impact States is not right,” Sitharaman said.

On the criteria that will be used to decide representation, she added that it is only the Delimitation Commission, an independent body, which will decide on it.

Reciprocal tariffs

With regard to the impending April 2 deadline on Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, the FM said that a team from the US Trade Representative’s office is set to visit in the coming week, and this suggests that both sides recognise that “we need to have a good understanding for both countries to have a win-win situation.” On the larger question of global trade wars, she remarked that bilateral trade agreements were beginning to look like the way forward.

On the economy, she said that while the elections period had an effect on the second quarter, it then revived in quarters three and four. “The rural demand has picked up and I have recently spoken in detail in the Parliament about how wages are going up in case of urban,” she added.

Speaking about the demand of states like Tamil Nadu and Telangana to make economic contribution a criterion for tax devolution, FM Sitharaman said that it was a matter for the Finance Commission to consider. However, she noted that it did not sound “logically sound” as many of these states also have a high contribution to the nation’s debt.