Maha Bharat: Episode 22

What does the Delimitation Commission of India do?

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Did you know that the boundaries of our electoral consituencies are often redrawn and that is actually a very important part of a representative democracy like India? But why is this done? What is Delimitation? and how does the delimitation commission carry out this task, and what does it mean for the states and union territories of India?

Find out in this week’s episode of Maha Bharat.

Show Notes

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Full Transcript of Episode 22 –

Namashkar Doston,

It is not breaking news when I tell you that the central government and Jammu & Kashmir have had a rocky relationship.

One year ago, the Central Government abolished the Article 370, taking away Jammu & Kashmir’s special status. This was opposed strongly from various parts of the country, not only Jammu & Kashmir.

In May this year, 3 Kashmiri Members of the Parliament belonging to the National Conference Party had a major disagreement with a major decision of the Central Government. What was this decision?

You might not have heard about this – 

[We hear a news report about a new Delimitation Commission]

Delimitation — yaani, the process of fixing or changing boundaries of the constituencies that vote in an election. Interestingly, even before the abolishment of article 370, the centre had declared that it will change the constituency boundaries in Jammu & Kashmir. 

Now, a commission has been set up to do this — not only in Jammu & Kashmir, but also in four northeastern states. This is a Delimitation Commission or a Pariseeman Aayog (परिसीमन आयोग).

But, this is not the first time that the government has redrawn constituencies in the country. In fact, the constitution has allowed the government to do this multiple times. 

We’ve heard about redrawing the boundaries of a state. But constituencies — why is this done? How does the commission carry out this task, and what does it mean for the states and union territories of India? Let’s find out.

The word delimitation ya pariseeman (परिसीमन) means to define the limits (seema) of something. Rajneeti ki baat kare toh, delimitation means fixing the limits of constituencies in a country. Constituencies are fixed areas, whose voters elect legislators to the Parliament as well to the state legislative assemblies. 

In fact, constituencies are at the centre of our discussion today. I’m sure you know which constituency you vote from, and if you don’t know that yet, it’s time to go find it out. This is important. Even if you and your friend live in the same city, you may be voting from completely different constituencies. 

This is because a constituency has nothing to do with the area of a city — it is related directly to the population. To understand the reason behind this, let’s consider the example of the Lok Sabha. 

The Lok Sabha is also called the House of People. Why so? Simple — it is a house of the parliament that represents the people of India directly. Every five years, we vote for members of the Lok Sabha. Similarly, we also vote directly for members of our State Legislative Assemblies. 

But, India is a large country. To represent all of its people is a difficult task, and I’m sure you’d agree with me. So how does the government do it?

This is where a constituency comes in. We know that every member of the Lok Sabha represents a single constituency. Actually, what this means is that every member represents a small part of our population. No matter the size of the state, the population of a constituency remains more or less constant. This is why Manipur, which is sparsely populated,  has 2 constituencies, whereas Uttar Pradesh has 80 constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections!

During the first general elections, in 1951, each constituency was created to have a population of 5 lakh to 7 lakh voters. At this time, the population of our country was 36 crores — by the way, today, the population of our country is almost 4 times this!

Now, the population of a constituency has increased to roughly 15 lakh voters.

Well, this makes sense, right? Every five years, there will be an increase in the number of voters. But this increase, of course, won’t be the same everywhere. One constituency may get overpopulated, and maybe in another, it won’t make much of a difference.

There you have it — this is why a delimitation exercise is carried out. So that the number and the size of a constituency can be proportionate (samaan) to the population. The idea is that every legislator in the Parliament or the state assembly should represent roughly the same number of citizens.

Delimitation is actually considered to be an extremely important part of Indian governance. Let me tell me how. Sabse pehli baat, the exercise of delimitation was adopted into the constitution itself in 1949. The Article 82 in the constitution said that the government must redraw the borders of the constituencies in the country after every census. How this should be done was left up to the parliament to decide. 

So, under this article, the Parliament passes a Delimitation Act which specifies the rules of delimitation. This act also sets up a Delimitation Commission, which carries out this exercise. The first Delimitation Act was set up in 1952. Then in 1962, 1972 and finally in 2002. But we haven’t had a national delimitation exercise for a long time now. In 2001, the parliament froze delimitation in India until 2026. This was to ensure that the population becomes stable. 

Who conducts this exercise?

Each time the Delimitation Act is passed, it empowers the government to set up a Delimitation Commission. The act also specifies who (kaun-kaun) is part of this commission. 

Think about it — who do you think is best suited to draw the boundaries of election constituencies?

The Chief Election Commissioner, of course. In 1952, the Delimitation Commission constituted of the Chief Election Commissioner and two supreme court judges. This combination may change, but a member of the election commission will always be a part of this committee. 

But, a few members can’t be expected to understand the conditions of all the states and union territories of India! So, to help them carry out this process, MPs from the Lok Sabha act as associate members of this commission.

The decision taken by the Delimitation Commission is not considered to be a new law — however, it is just as important. It is considered equal to the law. It cannot be questioned, even in the Supreme Court. 

Doston, today, the idea that there are constituencies with fixed populations that vote for legislators seems natural to us.

So, you may be surprised to learn in the very first general elections, the constituencies were drawn randomly — and so were the number of legislators elected. 

I’m talking about a hundred years ago, in 1920. This was a time when the British were still ruling over India. But, there was an increasing demand for representation in the government from Indian citizens. A few years before this, in 1909, the British government introduced a Central Legislative Council with 68 seats. You can think of this council as the Lok Sabha of British India, but only 27 members of council could be elected by the Indian citizens. And not every citizen could vote — these members of the Council were elected only by universities, chambers of commerce, trade associations, and land owners. 

It was the Government of India Act of 1919 that brought in two councils: the Imperial Legislative Council and the Council of States. In a previous episode about the Rajya Sabha, we talked about how this was the first time that the British introduced the two houses of the Parliament in India. 

In 1920, general elections were held to elect 66 members of the Legislative Council. The constituencies were different from the ones we know today — in fact, they weren’t even called constituencies. They were simply referred to seats from different Indian provinces.

The idea of specific constituencies developed after the Government of India Act of 1935 was implemented. The British formed the Indian Delimitation Commission right after the act. This commission, which was headed by Laurie Hammond (Lorry Hammond) and consisted of two other Indian judges, travelled the length and breadth of India in 1935, to draw the boundaries of constituencies in the country. Not only this: they also had to obtain information about the population and how it should be represented. 

There was also the question of fair representation. During the elections for the Imperial Legislative Council, specific seats were reserved for Muslims, Sikhs, the members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes. And how would they know how many seats to reserve? This would be decided on the basis of the data collected by the Delimitation Commission. In 1935, this group travelled more than 14,000 kilometres!

This was the first Delimitation exercise in India — even before independence.

After independence, the question of delimitation was an important one. 

You can imagine the state (stithi) of India: the country had been partitioned into India and Pakistan. Large provinces had been broken down into states and people had migrated in great numbers. 

Setting up elections was a long and difficult task. 

The territories for constituencies in India were first set up by the Election Commision in 1950, and not a delimitation commission. According to this report, each seat in the Lok Sabha should represent 5 lakh to 7 lakh people. With this in mind, states were divided into different constituencies. 

Several seats were reserved in the Lok Sabha as well the State Assemblies for members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes. We now know that every constituency can elect only one member — but originally, this was not the case! Several constituencies could elect two members — one from a reserved category and one from general. However, this was removed in 1961.

To make constituencies and to rebuild them — basically, this is what Delimitation is. I told you earlier, the constitution says that delimitation should be carried out after every census — matlab, after 10 years. So the surprising fact is that almost as soon as constituencies were drawn up in 1951, the first Delimitation Commission Act was passed in 1952, to redraw them. Why so?

This is because so far, the Chief Electoral Officers in states and other members of an advisory committee had decided on the borders of the constituency, the population in each one, etc. The president approved of it, without much consideration. However, it was the Election Commission itself that later told the government that this exercise was rushed, and did not go smoothly. It suggested that a separate commission be set up to redraw boundaries on the basis of the Census that was conducted in 1951.

So, the Delimitation Commission Act was passed in 1952, and the constituencies of India were redrawn in 1953, for the first time after independence.

Doston, redrawing the borders of a constituency isn’t an easy task. 

Imagine having to work on the population data for every state in the country. The commission must take the information from a census and decide which states need new constituencies, or changes in the old ones. It must also study the data to find out if the various Reserved seats of the Lok Sabha should be increased or decreased — how many members of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes are present in each constituency? Are they being represented correctly in the Assemblies?

So, how does the commission go about this task — what does it do, exactly?

Let’s try to understand this looking at the example of the Delimitation Commission of 2002. 

This commission was chaired by the Retired Judge Kuldip Singh. There was a particularly interesting barrier that this commission had — one that the previous commissions did not. They could not change the number of seats in the Lok Sabha or the State Legislative Assemblies.

Waise, the delimitation commission does have the power to do this. However, in 2001, the Parliament passed the 84th Amendment to the constitution. This put a freeze (rok) on the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and State legislative assemblies. Can you imagine why?

This is because at this time, population control and family planning policies were underway in the country. If the commission were to add or remove seats in the Lok Sabha based on the 2001 census, this could result in an imbalance, because the family planning policies had not yet been effective in all the states. Some states may have decreased population, but it would not be fair to decrease the number of seats for those states. This is the same reason that the delimitation exercise was conducted only 2002, after 1971. The government wanted the country to adjust to the newly implemented family-planning policies. After the population was stabilized, only then were the constituencies redrawn. 

Coming back to the Delimitation Commission of 2002. 

The Commission started the delimitation exercise in 2003. This was done in all the states except Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Assam.

There are a number of methods that are used around the world to delimit constituencies. For instance, the Jefferson Method, suggested by former President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, will tell you to divide the country’s entire population by the number of parliamentary seats, and build constituencies. Another method is the Webster method. Waise, let me tell you — the method used by these commissions is largely a secret! The commissions have stayed silent on which method they use for delimitation. But it’s believed that the Webster Method is the most appropriate for India, which has a one-person one-vote one-value type of election. This method also uses the population of the country and each state and the number of seats in the house and uses a formula that was suggested in the United States by senator Daniel Webster. (This method:)

In general, the commission considers 3 factors: Area, population and the communication facilities available. Every constituency must be roughly a certain area, with a certain amount of population and should have basic facilities required to vote.

Doston, in the very beginning of this episode, we talked about how the Central government has decided to delimit the constituencies of Jammu & Kashmir as well as the four states in the northeast — Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. Even as we speak, the delimitation of these states is going on. 

But why was this decision taken?

The four northeastern states had been left out of the Delimitation exercise of 2002. This was because various organizations in these four states had opposed delimitation in 2002. They claimed that the 2001 census was not accurate. Particularly for Assam, the National Register for Citizens ya NRC had not been updated. So, the president decided to delay the delimitation in these four states. 

But what about Jammu & Kashmir? Well, the matter here is a little more complicated. Before August 2019, the state of Jammu & Kashmir had a special status. The state government stopped any delimitation in Jammu & Kashmir under the J&K People’s Representation Act — and it had the right to do so. As we know, it no longer does. 

Lekin doston, the fact that Jammu & Kashmir was left out of the exercise is not the only reason that the government has taken this decision. It also wants to address the imbalance in this union territory’s constituencies. 

Aisa hi ki, according to the 2011 census, the population of the Jammu region is 54 lakh. This is 43% of the union territory’s total population and Jammu has 37 constituencies. On the other hand, the Kashmir region, which is smaller than Jammu, contains 55% of the population. It has 46 seats in the Lok Sabha. This means in Jammu, every legislator represents a much bigger group of people than in Kashmir. In fact, there is a legislator for every 350 square kilometre in Kashmir, but in Jammu there is one for every 710 square kilometre! 

In the past, members of the Kashmiri constituencies have formed the ruling party in the State Legislative Assemblies, because they have more seats than Jammu. 

With this delimitation, the government plans to increase the State Assembly seats of Jammu & Kashmir from 107 to 114, to give Jammu greater representation.

Like I told you, 3 Kashmiri Members of the Parliament, who were associate members of the Delimitation Commision, left in disagreement. 

If this move is simply to ensure representation, then why is there opposition to delimitation?

Members of political parties such as the National Conference oppose the abolition of the article 370 — and as an extension, they oppose this move as well. Along with this, the people of Kashmir believe that this delimitation will tilt the balance of power toward Jammu. Political leaders such as Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have opposed this move, which was made without the agreement of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

It is also viewed as an unnecessary spending in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic that the country is dealing with. This is why the MPs from the National Conference are not participating in this exercise. But the question remains — without the political leaders from Kashmir as associate members of the commission, will delimitation in Kashmir be done in a fair manner?

Doston, when we talk about the northeast, the opposition to delimitation is for completely different reasons. 

This year, the government said that the circumstances that delayed delimitation in these four states do not exist anymore. The census is updated, and so is the NRC. So, the constituencies must also be redrawn. This delimitation is being done on the basis of the 2001 census.

Now, of course, there are groups that are in support of this move. Like we hear from a Cabinet Minister of Assam, 

[We hear the voice of Himanta Biswa Sharma speak about the merits of Delimitation in Assam]

Yes — I know what you’re thinking — why 2001 when the 2011 census exists? This is because delimitation in the northeast will be done under the Delimitation Act of 2002. This act requires the process to be done with the 2001 census data. The people of these states oppose this move for this exact reason.

For instance, a member of the United Committee Manipur claims that there has been a huge population increase in the state. He mentions that the 2001 census was not conducted properly in these areas — and if the delimitation process is conducted based on these numbers, it may not be fair.

In fact, a lot of people have also called this move unconstitutional. Like we discussed, the constitutional amendment said that there should be no delimitation until 2026. But since this exercise is being carried out under the Delimitation act of 2002, the government has found a loophole around this amendment. 

Delimitation is a process that affects the entire country. Which is why, the issues in this exercise affect not only the government, but also every citizen of the country.

Like we know, every constituency must roughly have the same population. However, in the past, this has not always been the case.

In Uttar Pradesh, every MP represents 30 lakh people. In Tamil Nadu, this number is 18 lakh. In fact, last year a carnegie-report presented that if the delimitation in 2002 was done properly, then Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar would actually have 22 additional seats in the Lok Sabha. But as we know, this isn’t allowed by the constitution. 

The freeze on the Lok Sabha seats is definitely one criticism — but not all blame can be put on this rule. Many experts have also criticized the work of the Delimitation Commissions — not only in 2002, but also before that. 

Doston, have you heard of the term “Gerrymandering” (Jerry-man-der-ring)” It has an interesting story behind it. In 1812, a U.S. state governor called Elbridge Gerry (El-bridge Jerry) created a new electoral area in his state, to bring votes to his party. This area was in the shape of a salamander (sala-man-der), a reptile. From here came the term Gerrymandering! 

I’m sure you know where I’m going with this. When constituencies are drawn to favour a particular political party, this is called Gerrymandering. The very first Delimitation in India was accused to be in favour of Congress. In 2002, the commission was said to be influenced by the associate members, who were leaders of political parties. 

In other cases, the inaccurate representation that you may see might be because of the uneven distribution of population in our country. Chandni Chowk is the smallest constituency in the country, area wise. However, it has 3.76 lakh voters. Ladakh, which is the biggest constituency in terms of area, has a population of 2.74 lakhs. In fact, why go as far as Ladakh? On the outskirts of Delhi itself, there are 31 lakh voters in a constituency. The difference even within the same city is large — and this causes a problem with it comes to delimiting these constituencies. 

Inaccurate delimitation will always have harmful impacts. In states like Manipur, there are conflicts between the hill and valley — matlab, between tribal and non-tribal groups. Increased representation to either of the groups based on an old census will lead to conflict in these areas. Similarly, delimitation in Kashmir can also lead to friction between the Jammu and Kashmir political parties. 

On a larger scale (bade paimane pe dekha jaye toh) incorrect delimitation due to gerrymandering can impact a whole community — just to favour political parties.

Did you ever think that redrawing the boundaries of a constituency is such an important and impactful exercise? 

In fact, this is a provision of the constitution that was hardly debated on. Every member of the constituent assembly agreed on the idea that constituencies must be redrawn after every census. The fact that this exercise is so important is also the reason that it should be conducted in the right manner and at the right time. The delimitation of Jammu & Kashmir and the northeastern states is still underway — we can only wait and see how it pans out. Until then, I will leave you to decide on the rights and wrongs of this move.

That’s it for today, folks! As always, I hope we were able to learn something new today, and that I moved you to think deeply about our country and its governance. 

I’ll be back next week with a brand new episode of Maha Bharat!

Credits

Narrated by – Dhruv Rathee
Producer – Gaurav Vaz
Written by – Gaurav Vaz and Anushka Mukherjee
Title Track Design – Abhijith Nath
Audio Production – Madhav Ayachit