YSR Congress Party president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has once again demonstrated that he is unwilling to antagonize the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), despite it being part of the Telugu Desam Party-led coalition government in the state.
While Jagan continues to keep his distance from the Congress, he appears to be making efforts to maintain cordial relations with the BJP.
It seems he believes that any confrontation with the BJP could pose problems - whether related to the pending CBI cases against him or in the context of the upcoming elections.
Possibly for this reason, Jagan on Saturday conveniently ignored the invitation from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to attend an all-party meeting in Chennai to discuss the perceived injustice to southern states in the upcoming delimitation of parliamentary constituencies.
At the same time, Jagan couldn’t afford to stay completely silent, as there would be pressure on him to clarify his position - whether he supports the NDA government's stance or aligns with the southern states.
To strike a balance, he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of the Chennai meeting, outlining his concerns regarding the delimitation issue.
In the letter, Jagan urged the Prime Minister to ensure that the upcoming delimitation exercise does not lead to any state losing its representation in the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.
YSRCP Parliamentary Party leader Y V Subba Reddy also sent a copy of the same letter to DMK leaders, stressing the importance of a fair and balanced approach to the delimitation process.
In his letter to Modi, Jagan expressed concern over reports that the Centre may use the 2026 census as the basis for the delimitation exercise. This, he said, has caused considerable anxiety - particularly among the southern states - who fear their parliamentary representation may be reduced.
He noted that the southern states' share of India’s total population has declined significantly over the 40-year period between 1971 and 2011, and has dropped even further in the last 15 years, largely due to their sincere implementation of population control measures.
“While I thank the Union Home Minister for assuring that the delimitation exercise will consider the need for proportionate seat increases across all states, I would like to point out a legal hurdle to such a relaxation—namely Article 81(2)(a) of the Constitution of India,” Jagan wrote.
He urged the Prime Minister to consider amending the Constitution to allow a proportionate increase in Lok Sabha seats for every state.
“This would ensure that no state suffers a reduction in its representation in the House of the People, with respect to the share of seats allocated in the total,” he added.
