States with successful family planning to lose seats in delimitation: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh

Congress warns that delimitation may penalise states with successful family planning, leading to seat redistribution in Lok Sabha.

Amid the delimitation row, the Congress on Tuesday (March 11, 2025) said that the exercise will “penalise” States that have successfully implemented family planning and reduced total fertility rates.

In a lengthy post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh highlighted nine States may lose anywhere between one to eight Lok Sabha seats each, while States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are going to gain 11 and 10 seats, respectively, if the delimitation exercise is undertaken.

“The States that lose seats are Tamil Nadu (8), Kerala (8), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (8), Odisha (3), West Bengal (4), Karnataka (2), Himachal Pradesh (1), Punjab (1), and Uttarakhand (1). Assam, J&K, and Maharashtra don’t lose or gain any seat,” he said.

“The States that gain are Uttar Pradesh (11), Bihar (10), Rajasthan (6), Madhya Pradesh (4), Jharkhand (1), Haryana (1), Gujarat (1), Delhi (1), and Chhattisgarh (1),” Mr. Ramesh pointed out.

To back his claim, he cited an analysis by two scholars, Milan Vaishnav and Jamie Hintson, in March 2019 using data from the 2001 and 2011 Census.

It revealed what would happen to the distribution of seats if the estimated population of 2026 was used.

“The States that lose seats will do so simply because of their early success in family planning and reducing total fertility rates which has been the national objective. They will be penalised for it,” the senior Congress leader wrote on X.