BENGALURU, April 6 -- Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday took on the Centre's proposed delimitation exercise, warning that it risks skewing parliamentary representation in favour of northern states, ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while diminishing the relative voice of the South.

The remarks come amid a renewed debate over delimitation, the redrawing of parliamentary constituencies based on population, which is expected after the current freeze on Lok Sabha seat allocation ends following the next Census cycle. The freeze, in place since the 1970s to encourage population control, has meant that states with slower population growth have not lost representation-a balance that could shift significantly in the next exercise.

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