New Delhi: Several southern states that have successfully implemented family planning measures will object to population-based changes in the number of seats in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha following the 2031 census and this would pose a big political challenge for the country, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has said.
Speaking at an orientation programme for the newly-elected Rajya Sabha MPs, Ramesh talked about the role of the Upper House and its contribution to Indian democracy.
Underlining the population-based representation of Rajya Sabha, Ramesh said America’s Senate is often compared with the Rajya Sabha, but there is a vast difference between the two as all states have two representatives in the Senate irrespective of population.
Besides Germany, there is no country where representation to states is given according to population, Ramesh said.
Population-based representation in Rajya Sabha is a great innovation made by the makers of the Constitution, the former Union minister said during the orientation programme on Saturday.
The biggest issue before the country is that what will happen in 2026 because southern states have this apprehension Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Telangana, Andhra Pradesh are states where population will start to decline, whereas in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Rajasthan, the population is increasing, he said.
Atal Bihari Vajpyee’s government brought an amendment which says that till 2026, there would be no delimitation, meaning the number of seats of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha would remain the same till 2026 and according to the first census after that in 2031, MPs’ numbers would be altered, Ramesh said.
“But I want to say this would be the biggest challenge for the country because there are states which have taken steps in family planning India’s southern states, western states and some northern states like Himachal Pradesh but in central India, in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, the population will increase in the next 10 years. So how to reflect that in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, this is a big political challenge before us,” he said.
The Congress leader suggested that the current government can amend the Constitution, but according to the current Constitution talks about delimitation based on the first census taken after 2026.
“Now it is possible for this government to amend. They also have to go back to states like Kerala that will object, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, even though it is a BJP government, will object,” Ramesh said.
“Punjab is affected by this. All states that were successful in implementing family planning will object. All chief ministers of southern states have said this publically,” he said.
Asked about talk of doing away with Rajya Sabha, Ramesh said a member of his party, Manish Tewari, wrote an article in a newspaper saying what is the need for Rajya Sabha.
“This discussion keeps happening. Today, the government has a majority in both the Houses, but there are times when the government does not have majority in Rajya Sabha, even this government did not have majority earlier. When governments do not have a majority in Rajya Sabha, they think it should be done away with. But how serious it is I cannot say.
“If you look at this government, many senior ministers, the finance minister, commerce ministers, are from Rajya Sabha,” he added.
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