Dehradun, July 1 -- The principle of "one person, one vote" dictates that parliamentary seats should reflect actual population counts to ensure equal voting power for every citizen. On the other hand, a rigid population-based framework penalises states that successfully implemented national goals for socio-economic development and family planning.
To prevent a political imbalance, the Indian government intervened to decouple political representation from population growth. Under the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi froze the seat allocation based on the 1971 Census. The rationale was to avoid punishing states with falling fertility rates. Under the 84th Constitutional Amendment in 2001, the moratorium was...