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Telangana Rakshana Sena (TRS) president Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Saturday, May 2, said that the BJP-led Union government’s call to proceed with the delimitation exercise for the Lok Sabha was necessary to have equal number of seats for each state in the Rajya Sabha similar to the United States of America’s Senate. She added that the voices of the people of Telangana, and the South, by extension, cannot be diluted to achieve this.
“We should proceed with the delimitation exercise based on absolute population figures, utilizing a fixed benchmark such as 7,00,000 or 10,00,000 citizens per constituency. While this ensures that states with larger populations receive a significantly higher number of seats in the Lower House, that would not matter if we simultaneously empower the Rajya Sabha with Senate-like authorities to maintain federal equilibrium,” Kavitha said adding that she would soon be writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that federalism is preserved as per her proposal.
Kavitha was speaking at a ‘Meet the Press’ event hosted by the Telangana State Union of Working Journalists (TUWJ) at Hyderabad’s Basheerbagh press club.
“Under this proposed system, equal and fixed representation in the Rajya Sabha would be granted to every state, regardless of size. Currently, representation is skewed; for instance, Uttar Pradesh holds 31 seats while Sikkim holds only one. By transitioning to a model where every state is allotted a fixed number of representatives (such as three or five), we ensure that every state’s vote carries the same weight,” she added.
In April 2026, Kavitha had criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government for ‘attempting to weaken the state’s democratic representation under the guise of delimitation.’
“The voice of the people of Telangana cannot be diluted under the guise of delimitation. Our position is non-negotiable: the proportional representation of Telangana and by extension, South Indian states must be protected,” Kavitha said.
Kavitha had also earlier also slammed the Union government for linking the Women’s Reservation Bill to the delimitation exercise.
