In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna, and Leena Reghunath are joined by activist and journalist Shivasundar and retired IAS officer PV Ramesh to discuss the looming delimitation and Karnataka’s Naxal journey.

With delimitation set for 2026, will south India’s political representation shrink if more seats go to northern states? What does this mean for governance, federalism, and the country’s power balance?

On delimitation, PV Ramesh says, “It does not really matter how many citizens one MP represents—certainly, the lesser, the better—but any revision must be pro-rata across the country. If seats must increase, it should be across the board by 10–20% without reference to population, ensuring fair representation for union territories and smaller states. In a country as diverse as India, a one-size-fits-all rule simply won’t work.”

Shivasundar argues, “There should be a numerical increase, but it should come with devolution of power. Why should the Lok Sabha have so much power? Devolve the power to the regional states. Bengaluru is developing as Delhi, and Raichur is developing as another Bihar. So when you say South, South is not uniform in that sense. This is a consequence of the mode of development we are pursuing. Unless we attend to that, these superficial solutions will not go to the roots.”

Dhanya points out the lack of transparency from the Union government, saying, “The BJP is very calculative. They aren’t revealing how many seats will be added or which states will gain. That itself shows there’s a political strategy behind it.”

As the conversation turns to Karnataka’s recent declaration that it is Naxal-free, the panel examines whether the movement is truly gone or if it has only changed form.

On the state’s anti-Naxal operations, Shivasundar challenges the official narrative, saying, “The idea that Naxalism has been ‘eliminated’ is misleading. The state has used repression, but it has not addressed the conditions that gave rise to the movement.”

Shivasundar challenges the claim that Karnataka is “Naxal Free,” arguing that Naxalism is more than an armed movement—it’s an ideology born from deep inequalities. “The armed rebellion may have ended, but as long as the conditions that created it exist, the ideology isn’t going anywhere.

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Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:02:05 – Subscribe & Support TNM 

00:03:00 – Headlines

00:08:54 – Delimitation 

00:39:57 - Karnataka’s Naxal Journey 

01:07:44 - Letters

01:11:30 – Recommendations

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Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali

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