Andhra Minister Lokesh Cites Pranab Mukherjee to Counter Cong on Delimitation

Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh on Thursday cited late President Pranab Mukherjee's support for delimitation and an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to counter Congress leaders opposing the move, questioning whether the party had changed its position on the issue.

The remarks come amid a debate over delimitation and proposals to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats, with Congress leaders, including Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, raising concerns that larger states could gain greater political influence if parliamentary representation is recalibrated on the basis of population.

"Jairam ji, Tharoor ji, one of the tallest leaders in Congress history, former President Pranab Mukherjee, was unequivocal: India should increase the strength of the Lok Sabha to 1,000 members to provide better representation to its people," Lokesh said in a post on X.

"Was Pranab da wrong? Or has the Congress party changed its mind, keeping politics above the nation?" he questioned.

Lokesh has defended the proposal to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha while maintaining states' existing share of seats, saying it would improve representation without altering the federal balance.

Earlier, Tharoor questioned Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's support for maintaining states' proportional share in an expanded Lok Sabha, arguing that larger states would still gain a substantially higher number of MPs, thereby increasing their political influence. PTI MS SSK