Gains, losses, and politics in Andhra Pradesh Premium

Chandrababu Naidu supports the delimitation move, unlike his southern counterparts

Ever since the Union government began discussing the delimitation exercise, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has made it clear that he supports the process, unlike his southern counterparts, led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

Supporting the NDA government’s move, Mr. Naidu — who had earlier promoted family planning and spoken about population explosion — said that he has changed his view on population and is now promoting population growth, arguing that India’s biggest advantage over developed nations is its demographic dividend.

He further stated that even South Indian States, including Andhra Pradesh, were also facing the ageing issue, compared to northern States. And that is why he is now promoting population growth.

In the recently concluded Assembly Budget session, Mr. Naidu made it clear that once the delimitation process is completed after the 2026 Census, the share of women in the Assembly would increase to 75 seats as per women’s reservation norms.

After securing a landslide victory in the 2024 General and Assembly elections and forming the NDA coalition government in Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Naidu overturned a three-decade-old rule that disqualified candidates with more than two children from contesting local body polls.

Now the question is whether his support for delimitation will isolate him from the other Southern States. Notably, he did not attend the meeting convened by Mr. Stalin. Mr. Naidu’s absence from the meeting was expected, as his party, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), is part of the NDA, along with Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party.

Interestingly, Mr. Naidu is aware that if the delimitation process is done after the 2026 Census, Andhra Pradesh’s representation in the Lok Sabha will not increase substantially, unlike States such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. However, he has no other choice.