SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
A fierce political debate is unfolding over electoral boundaries in India. Should the country's rising population change how parliamentary seats are distributed? Southern Indian states, where the population has been shrinking fast, fear they may lose political power, while the north stands to gain. Devina Gupta has this report from Delhi.
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DEVINA GUPTA: It was meant to be a celebration, a mass wedding event in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. But the mood quickly turned political when the chief minister of the state, MK Stalin, made this remark.
MK STALIN: (Through interpreter) Earlier, we used to say take your time and have a baby, but now the situation has changed. Now, with policies such as delimitation that the union government is planning to implement, I would urge newlyweds to immediately have babies.
GUPTA: Having babies because of an upcoming policy called delimitation. In many parts of the world, this is known as redistricting. Essentially, the redrawing of electoral boundaries. In India, the government says it wants areas with more people to get more parliamentary seats. The last time it happened was in 1973.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The delimitation issue, he says, is like a sword that is hanging over the southern states.
GUPTA: It's a thorny political issue today, one that has been dominating news headlines for the last few months. Commentators point out that the southern states in India have smaller population than in the north.
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SHRUTI RAJAGOPALAN: The southern states in India, which were also the richer states, fertility rates started dropping sooner.
GUPTA: And that's economist Shruti Rajagopalan of George Mason University. She says the delimitation debate goes back to the 1970s, when India was trying to control its population with the government's family planning initiatives.
RAJAGOPALAN: Now, over a period of time, things started shifting. So if India were to say, just simply redistrict today, what would happen is the southern states would lose voice in parliament because they would have fewer votes in parliament.
GUPTA: The timing of this debate came as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, or the BJP, showed signs of losing popularity following last year's election. They argue that delimitation is about fairer representation. But critics say it's about the BJP finding a way to dominate Indian politics, particularly in the north, where they are more popular. Yamini Aiyar is the former president of the Delhi-based independent research think tank, Centre for Policy Research.
YAMINI AIYAR: There is absolutely no doubt that where the BJP has deeper roots - which is largely in the northern and eastern parts of the country - it is more likely to gain, potentially, from expanded representation. That is raising the political stakes of delimitation in this particular moment in time.
GUPTA: Nilakantan RS, author of the book "South Vs North: India's Great Divide," says the whole debate about delimitation is not only about fair representation and numbers, but about southern states' identity too.
RS NILAKANTAN: They feel threatened by the hegemony of what is the North Indian culture, language being imposed on them.
GUPTA: For now, India's home minister from the ruling BJP, Amit Shah, has tried to calm fears, saying the share of the southern states in the parliament will not be reduced.
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AMIT SHAH: (Through interpreter) I want to reassure the people of South India that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kept your interest in mind and will make sure that not even one seat is reduced in delimitation. And whatever increases there, southern states will get a fair share. There is no reason to doubt this.
GUPTA: But many remain unconvinced.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting in non-English language).
GUPTA: It's another divisive issue in an already divided country, one that will continue to hang over the world's most populous democracy.
For NPR News, I'm Devina Gupta in Delhi.
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