“Understanding Delimitation in India: Constitutional Controversies and Challenges”

Author- Srishti Jain, LLB student, University of Delhi

Abstract

The document titled "Understanding Delimitation in India: Constitutional Controversies and Challenges" provides an exhaustive analysis of the legal, political, and demographic complexities surrounding the delimitation of electoral constituencies in India. It defines delimitation as the redrawing of boundaries to ensure equal representation, adhering to the principle of "one person, one vote". The text highlights the critical "constitutional freeze" imposed in 1976 and extended in 2001, which suspended seat reallocation to promote family planning measures. This policy has precipitated a crisis of "malapportionment," creating a severe disparity between the populous northern states, which have experienced exponential demographic growth, and the southern states, which have successfully stabilized their populations[1].

The document further investigates allegations of "gerrymandering" in recent delimitation exercises. In Jammu & Kashmir, the 2022 redistribution of seats following the abrogation of Article 370 has been criticized for potentially favoring specific political demographics in the Jammu region over the Kashmir Valley. Similarly, the 2023 delimitation in Assam, based on the contested 2001 Census data, has raised questions regarding the representation of indigenous populations versus religious minorities. The report also examines the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, noting that the implementation of women's reservation is constitutionally tethered to the completion of the next delimitation exercise. Finally, the document proposes solutions to the impending federal deadlock, including expanding the Lok Sabha, restructuring the Rajya Sabha to function as a true federal chamber, and ensuring the independence of the Delimitation Commission.

INTRODUCTION

Delimitation is a practice of redrawing the boundaries of electoral districts to ensure fair and equal representation of the people in the legislature. It guarantees that every vote counts equally and that all citizens are fairly represented in the Parliament and state legislatures, making it a vital component of a thriving democracy. Statutory laws and Constitution serve as guidelines for delimitation. This exercise is supervised by the delimitation Commission, an impartial organisation created by the delimitation Act.

The Constitution of India provides the legal bedrock for this exercise. Article 82 mandates the Parliament to enact a Delimitation Act after every decennial census. Ideally, this would trigger a readjustment of the allocation of seats in the House of the People (Lok Sabha) to the States and the division of each State into territorial constituencies. Article 170mirrors the provision for State Legislative Assemblies, ensuring that the ratio between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it remains the same throughout the State[2].

The primary goal is to ensure that the electoral representation is in coherence with the demography. This achieved by redrawing electoral district borders in accordance with population changes predicted by the decennial census. This aids in resolving the inequalities brought on by migration and population growth. By resolving the disparity in representation, delimitation is crucial in upholding the idea of "one person, one vote." However, there is also a lot of discussion and difficulty around it in India, especially when it comes to matters like federal fairness, population-based representation, and policy consequences.Delimitation is not a facile and uncomplicated exercise in nature. It bears fundamental importance to India’s democratic structure, affecting governance, representation, and federal stability. Understanding its nuances is important to recognize the difficulties and disputes it presents in a nation as diverse and populated as India.

POLITICS AND PITFALLS OF DELIMITATION IN INDIA

The process of delimitation in India has not been aloof from controversies and conundrums. A number of arguments have been raised and are being raised, questioning the reasonability and equitability of the process of delimitation. The next delimitation plan's implementation is preceded by a number of significant obstacles. The following are the main shortcomings that have caught people's attention and that the lawmakers must address:

A] Population  Disparity

Numerical equality is the fundamental tenet upon which delimitation exercises are conducted in India. The prolonged postponement of delimitation hasconcocted certain impediments in this process.The foremost concern is that, it has led to significant demographic differences between constituencies both within and between states.

Population differences can be analysed along two axes:

·       Firstly, due to increased spatial mobility (from rural to urban areas), urban constituencies have grown significantly larger than rural ones.

·       Secondly, the inability of the northern states to establish family planning programs has resulted in exponential population growth in northern states than the southern ones.

Both of these issues have pressed challenge afore the legislators. [3]The reason stated by the report of Ministry of Home Affairs behind the freeze was that a delimitation exercise without all the states controlling their population growth would have led to grave prejudice and injustice against the states, especially the southern states, that have managed to achieve a sustainable population growth rate, while the states that had witnessed excessive population growth would have gotten undue advantage in terms of representation in the parliament.

This line of approach is flawed since the freeze penalises citizens of states that have seen rapid population increase.

Over time, the northern states have experienced exponential growth in population. The states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, Kerala etc. are over-represented in the parliament (given their population), while the states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are grossly underrepresented.[4]Political scientist Alistair McMillan has recorded the extent of the drastic over- and underrepresentation in Loksabha. Based on the 2001 Census, McMillan determined that Tamil Nadu ought to have 7 fewer Lok Sabha seats, while Uttar Pradesh should have received 7 additional ones.

[5]The current average population per representative/constituencies stands at 24 lakhs (approx.), making India’s parliament the most ill-represented in the world.

Since political representatives are supposed to serve their constituents on the ground in addition to participating in the legislative process, this raises serious concerns about their capacity to do so. This problem is termed asmalapportionment. [6]Malapportionmentisinequitable or unsuitable apportioning of representatives to a legislative body.This implies that some constituencies have a higher or lower population than others, which makes it difficult for every vote to count equally. This is a clear violation of the principle of one man, one vote envisaged for delimitation.

Additionally, it is projected that India's population will continue to increase exponentially for the next thirty years. As per the United Nations' World Population Prospects-2022, India's population is anticipated to reach 1.668 billion by 2050.This means that the issue of malapportionment will only exacerbate in the coming future.

This raises a dilemma as to whether halting the process of delimitation ensures equity or proliferates injustice.

The southern states contend that they have ensured efficient implementation of the family planning measures thereby they should not be the one to penalise electorally. The southern states support the stance to keep the things as they are until the population growth rate among states is relatively uniform.

[7]The contours of political representation will drastically change if the Lok Sabha seats are allocated again using the population figures from the next census while maintaining the current strength of the Lok Sabha.

More seats will be allocated to the northern states which will consequently deplete the importance of the southern states in the Loksabha since greater power will be focused in the northern region.This will further perpetuate the north- south divide which has already been aggravated on the grounds of financial devolution. The southern states earlier raised their disaccord when the 15^th financial commission considered 2011 census for the distribution of tax stating that it is unfair to them since they contribute more than the northern states in economy still receive less than them.

This creates a paradox as to how the new delimitation exercise should be undertaken.

This paradox clamours for expeditious action by the legislators. It is no longer possible to postpone seat reapportionment due to the issue of interstate differences in political representation. The concerned authorities considering the current situation have to devise a new framework on delimitation and bring an end to this quandary.

Since the deadline of freeze is approaching soon, this matter cannot be delayed any further. Various stakeholders and organizations such as civil society organizations, NGOs, political parties, the Election Commission, and the media, should also raise awareness about this issue and generate political pressure for lawmakers to address it and take action.

B] Gerrymandering

[8]Gerrymandering is a practice of dividing or arranging a territorial unit into election districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage in elections.                                   In India, the arrangement of constituencies plays a crucial role in influencing election outcomes, making this issue a common point of discussion regarding both state and parliamentary elections. Often, instances of gerrymandering have been witnessed in India. Lately, the exercises of delimitation in J&K and Assam have attested the presence of gerrymandering in Indian politics.

I] Issue of Gerrymandering in Jammu & Kashmir

The abrogation of Article 370 has resulted in the division of the original area into two distinct Union Territories: Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Following this change in the political landscape, the delimitation of electoral constituencies in J&K has emerged as a significant concern. In 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission was established to revise the electoral boundaries of the Union Territory.

[9]The final Delimitation order divided the region into 90 Assembly Constituencies, with seats in Jammu area increasing from 37 to 43 and the seats in the Kashmir area increasing from 46 to 47.

[10]The 2011 census was used to carry out the delimitation. According to the 2011 Census, the new delimitation gives Kashmir's 56% of the population 52% of the seats and Jammu's 44% of the population 48% of the seats.

Critics contend that this action was intended to advantage specific political factions and political party. Claims of gerrymandering have emerged due to the possible adjustment of boundaries to secure benefits from regions with a Hindu majority (Jammu) to the detriment of regions with a Muslim majority (like Kashmir). This boundary adjustment has been interpreted as an attempt to strengthen the political authority of the central government in Jammu and Kashmir. However, some proponents argue that the delimitation was essential to ensure fair representation.

II] Issue of Gerrymandering in Assam

The electoral boundaries in Assam were last adjusted in 1976, using information from the 1971 census for this delimitation. According to the 2001 census, the population had more than doubled, leading to significant imbalances in constituency representation. As a result, there was a need of delimitation in Assam to ensure fair representation.

[11]The delimitation exercise was started in Assam and the Election Commission of India (ECI) published the final delimitation order on August 11, 2023, in the Gazette of India. All Assembly and Parliamentary Constituencies in the State were delimited based on the 2001 Census as provided in Article 170 and Article 82 of the Constitution. The seats in the Legislative Assembly of Assam were kept as 126 and number of seats allocated in the House of People for the State of Assam as 14.

Claims and allegations have been put forward by critics that the delimitation process in Assam was designed to favor particular political factions, stirring fears of gerrymandering. Opponents argue that the boundaries of the constituencies were modified to improve the electoral chances of certain parties. This also adversely affects the indigenous populations or religious minorities of the area.The opponents argued that 2011 should have been used for delimitation since the Muslim population has grown exponentially in Assam after 2001. They allege that the exercise was politically motivated. Some advocators, on the other hand, have also hailed this process.

Theserecent exercises in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam have raised debates about fairness and transparency of the delimitation process. The potential bias underscores the need for more impartial process.

OVERCOMING DELIMITATION PITFALLS: A BALANCED APPROACH FOR INDIA

The approaches to address the inappropriate representation are manifold. There are various potential solutions available to resolve the reapportionment stalemate:

      i.         The initial approach involves definitively reallocating seats after 2031 and resisting the temptation to postpone it yet again. The longer the situation goes on, the greater discomfort it will cause. If India had adjusted its seat distribution following each ten-year census, the composition of the Lok Sabha would have evolved progressively on its own with time. However, this alone is not sufficient to resolve the problem. There is a need to formulate a more comprehensive strategy which takes into account the consideration of all the respective stakeholders.

    ii.         Another pre-eminent solution to ensure equitable representation is to increase the number of seats in Loksabha. Through this, the states which are under-represented will get their appropriate share in Loksabhaand those concerned about losing seats will not actually experience a reduction.However, the methodological issue will continue to linger despite this step. The increase in seats will divert the attention and concentration of the politicians more towards the populated states as they will procure more seats which will ultimately be fatal for the southern states. The disputation of the southern states that increasing the seats holds potential loss of electoral power to them cannot be ignored.

   iii.         An alternative suggestion is to redirect attention to the Upper House: theRajya Sabha. Specifically, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats among states could be based on their proportional population share (with the same number of seats), while the Rajya Sabha could be reformed to offset the decrease in representation within the Lok Sabha.

[12]Alistair McMillan has suggested that the federal political balancing should be attempted by restructuring the Rajya Sabha to give greater representation to smaller states.Given the primary concern is to safeguard the interest of the states, adjusting the number of seats in Rajya Sabha by equally dividing seats among the states would tranquillize the situation. Simultaneously, the powers conferred to Rajya Sabha should also be strengthen. Otherwise, this entire process will become futile since Lok Sabha will still hold supremacy, ultimately favouring the overly populated states. In view of the limited powers enjoyed by the Rajya Sabha, equality of representation will not do any good to the smaller states.

Therefore, there will be a need to make amendments in constitution to provide more powers to the Rajyasabha. This entire process involves a lot of intricacies, making it a bit onerous to adopt.

   iv.         Another way is to combine the two proposals. [13]That is, expand the size of the Lok Sabha to ensure that reallocating seats on the basis of a proportional share of population does not take away any seat from any state, and redistribute the Rajya Sabha seats to states by adopting new criteria.

This would appease and pacify the southern states to a considerable extent. However, the logistical challenges are contingent to implementation of this entire procedure.

     v.         Apart from these, reorganisation of states is also a favourable option. States are often reorganised to ensure better governance and administration. Historically, regions such as Uttarakhand were formed from bigger states (here, Uttar Pradesh) to promote improved administrative efficiency and governance. A similar analogy can be adopted here. Smaller states can be carved out from the over-populated states. This will obviate the possibility of dominance of certain states in parliament. A State Reorganisation Act will ensure uniformity in representation in Lok Sabha.

   vi.         Other than the aforementioned measures, some other steps can be taken by the legislators to solve the problem such as promulgating the population control bill, strengthening grassroot democracy, leverage Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and demographic modelling to create fair and scientifically designed constituency boundaries, etc.

Another challenge posed is of transparency and gerrymandering in delimitation. There are several solutions to counter this problem. For the sake of transparency in delimitation, the Delimitation Commission should function autonomously, without any political influence. Selecting members with outstanding qualifications, including judges, demographers, and independent specialists, can foster public confidence. One could contend that involving independent specialists like academics and social scientists in the delimitation process willsignificantly improve its objectivity and openness. This strategy could reduce the impact of partisan politics.

The commission should function under strict judicial scrutiny and well-defined legal frameworks and should follow established guidelines to avoid any bias or undue influence. Furthermore, fixing standardised timelines for delimitation, such as after each census, will also prevent influence from immediate political considerations.

To guarantee a legitimate delimitation procedure, it is imperative to address the issues of gerrymandering and population inequalities. In addition to bringing delimitation into compliance with Articles 81 and 170 of the Indian constitution, the aforementioned procedures will guarantee that it reflects demographic reality while respecting the democratic values of justice and inclusivity in India.

Legislators should engage in constructive debate and eliminate the deficiencies and blemishes in the procedure and make a more comprehensive procedure. The legislators and administrators need to curate a meticulous strategy by integrating and amalgamating various measures to articulate an equitable and objective exercise of delimitation in India devoid of any loopholes and lacunas.

DELIMITATION AND ITS ROLE IN IMPLEMENTING THE WOMEN’S RESERVATION BILL

[14]The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 was introduced in Lok Sabha on September 19, 2023. This bill was passed by both the houses of parliament.  The Bill aims to provide women a third of the seats in state legislative assemblies and the Lok Sabha.

This is viewed as a positive advancement in the quest for gender equality in the political sphere. The Women’s Reservation Bill states that the allocation of seats for women will only be implemented after the next delimitation process, which is presently suspended until the 2026 census is finalized. Delimitation therefore serves as the backbone for the Women’s Reservation Bill by determining how reserved seats will be allocated, rotated, and balanced across India.

There are concerns that certain areas might have an unequal number of reserved seats, resulting in representation that is not fair. In addition to this, there are concerns that political parties will take undue advantage of the situation to secure personal benefit. Other difficulties encompass guaranteeing adequate representation for marginalized groups and managing the logistical challenges of the procedure. Therefore, the successful implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill relies on a transparent and just delimitation process. This highlights the necessity for a fair delimitation process that supports the goal of empowering women and promotes inclusive democracy as envisaged by the Indian constitution.

CONCLUSION

The Delimitation Act serves as a vital instrument within India's democratic by redistributing constituencies based on population figures. This is done in an effort to maintain the democratic principle of "one person, one vote" by adjusting electoral representation to reflect changes in the population.This procedure is crucial in a diverse and populated nation like India, where changes in population and regional inequalities significantly impact the governance and politics. Nevertheless, the enforcement of the act has encountered various difficulties and critiques. A major concern is the freeze on the overall number of seats in Parliament and state assemblies, which is scheduled to persist until 2026. Although this move was intended to promote population control, it has resulted in a discrepancy between population figures and representation. There has been a contention as to what should be the step forward to resolve this dispute. The delimitation process is also confronted with concern regarding potential gerrymandering, as boundaries at times are altered to benefit specific political parties.

In spite of these obstacles, the Delimitation Act remains a fundamental component of India's democracy, ensuring that constituencies are modified to represent shifting demographics. It is vital to overcome the shortcomings of the existing framework. Reforms are necessary to create a balance between representation and population control incentives. Legislators need to incorporate effective strategies to resolve the issues in the current procedure. As India nears 2026, when the current freeze on seats will be reviewed, it is essential to implement a balanced strategy that addresses these inequalities while reinforcing the democratic framework.

Therefore, the Delimitation Act is crucial for upholding India's democratic framework by providing equitable representation. Nonetheless, its success hinges on tackling regional imbalances, removing partialities, and adjusting to evolving demographic conditions. A clear and equitable delimitation process will guarantee that the act remains a foundational element of India's democracy.

[1]Alistair McMillan, "Population Change and the Democratic Structure" 506 Seminar 14 (2001).

[2] The Constitution of India, arts. 82, 170.

[3] Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, Seventy-Fourth Report on the Constitution (Ninety-First Amendment) Bill, 2000 (2001).

[4]Alistair McMillan, "Delimitation, Democracy and End of Constitutional Freeze", 35 Economic and Political Weekly (2000).

[5]Inter-Parliamentary Union and United Nations Development Programme, Global Parliamentary Report 2017 (2017).

[6]Merriam-Webster dictionary.

[7]Mohd. SanjeerAlam, India’s Delimitation Dilemma: Challenges and Consequences, The India Forum, October 16, 2024, available at https://www.theindiaforum.in/politics/indias-delimitation-dilemma-challenges-and-consequences (Last visited on 10th January, 2025).

[8] Merriam Webster dictionary.

[9] Press Release, election commission, Delimitation Commission finalises the Delimitation order, May 5, 2022,available at https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1822939 (Last visited on January 11, 2025).

[10]Prof.Ashwani Kumar &Dr.Khushboo Srivastava, Boundary Lines and Ballots: Exploring Delimitation, Electoral Dynamics, and Reservation in India, casi available at https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/upiasi/Motwane%20grant%202023-24%2C%20Ashwani%20Kumar-Khushboo%20Srivastava%20paper%2C%20Delimitation.pdf (last visited on January 11, 2025).

[11] Press Release, election commission, ECI publishes final delimitation order, August 11, 2023,available at https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1947865  (Last visited on January 12, 2025).

[12] McMillan, supra note 19.

[13]Alam, supra note 22.

[14]prs legislative research, Women's Reservation Bill 2023 [The Constitution (One Hundred Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023], available at https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-constitution-one-hundred-twenty-eighth-amendment-bill-2023 (Last visited on January 13, 2025).

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