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The Rediff Election Specials/ K C Sivaramakrishnan

Urban under representation

Time for Change

It is an established fact that as compared to rural areas the rate of population increase, owing to both natural growth and migration, has been more in urban areas. The identification of urban areas is reflected in the rate of increase as well as in the absolute numbers of the electorate in these areas. Most of the 208 constituencies identified as 'extra large' and fast growing are either in metropolitan areas or urban agglomerations in non-metropolitan but partly urban constituencies.

In Uttar Pradesh to illustrate, one is Nainital with an electorate of 13.38 lakhs in 1996. The increase in size from 1991 is by 3.62 lakhs or 37 per cent. The bulk of this increase has come from Haldwani, an urban assembly segment where the electorate increased from 2.31 lakhs in 1991 to 3.38 lakhs in 1996, an increase of 46 per cent. Kashipur is another assembly segment of Nainital which had a 40 per cent increase in electorate size.

Another example is the Saharanpur parliamentary constituency in western UP. Its 1991 electorate size was 9.74 lakhs which went up to 12.16 lakhs in 1996. The bulk of this increase came from Saharanpur, Sarsawa and Nakur assembly segments which are urban. These examples indicate that large electorates, propelled by increase in urbanisation, have not received adequate representation.

The disparity among the constituencies becomes more evident in the case of the assemblies. In Maharashtra, out of 288 assembly constituencies, 82 have electorates well above the state average size of 1.89 lakhs. Belapur in New Mumbai has 9.43 lakh voters. Kalyan, Malad, Borivali, Bhiwandi, etc, have more than four lakh voters each.

Conversely, 206 constituencies are well below the state average. Out of these, in 65 the electorate size is 20 to 50 per cent less than the state average. The bulk of the extra small constituencies are in rural areas though there are a couple of oddities like Mumbadevi and Opera House in Bombay, with less than a lakh voters each. Applying the state average, the total electorate of 206 lakhs in the large constituencies can claim 108 seats, 26 more than at present.

The problem of under-representation can also be looked at from another perspective. Among the major states Maharashtra is the most urbanised. Out of the 1991 Census population of 787 lakhs, 39 per cent of 307 lakhs are urban. Applying the existing ratio between an assembly for the urban population, as against 90 at present.

In Tamil Nadu, out of 234 assembly constituencies, in 81 constituencies the electorate size is above the state average of 1.82 lakh. Among these in 37, the excess ranges from 10 per cent to more than 100 per cent. Villivakkam with 5.5 lakh voters is the largest followed by Tambaram, Tiruppur, Tiruvottyur, etc, all of which have 3 lakh to 4 lakh voters. The number of seats warranted by the urban electorate comprised in these constituencies is 96 as against 81 at present.

On the other hand there are 153 constituencies in Tamil Nadu whose electorate size is well below the state average. In 64 among these, it is 10 to 30 per cent below and in four it is 30 to 40 per cent below. Some old Madras city constituencies like Harbour and Chepauk are 45 per cent below the state average.

West Bengal is another state where out of 294 seats, 115 are well above the state average and 179 well below it. The urban electorate is short by about 20 seats. Andhra repeats the same pattern.

Overall, the analysis indicates that the freeze on delimitation has resulted in the over-representation of the small, and the under-representation of the large constituencies. It should not matter whether these constituencies are rural or urban, because in either case the principle of parity is violated. However, because of significant urban growth and identification, under-representation has affected urban areas more.

Analysis of Lok Sabha Constituencies Exceeding State Average Size of Electorate, 1996

Sl No	State	No of	Total	Average	Constituencies	Constituencies Exceeding by
		Seats	Electorate (in lakhs)	Electorate Per Seat (in lakhs)	Exceeding the State Average	Up to 10%	10 to 20%	20 to 30%	Above 30%
1	Andhra Pradesh	42	495.01	11.79	19	12	3	2	2
2	Assam	14	125.87	8.99	8	5	2	0	1
3	Bihar	54	584.38	10.82	31	23	6	0	2
4	Gujarat	26	285.29	10.97	7	2	1	2	2
5	Haryana	10	111.52	11.15	3	1	1	1	0
6	Karnataka	28	318.10	11.36	8	5	1	0	2
7	Kerala	20	206.73	10.34	12	11	1	0	0
8	Madhya Pradesh	40	439.27	10.98	19	12	6	0	1
9	Maharashtra	48	552.54	11.51	11	1	3	3	4
10	Orissa	21	224.19	10.68	11	10	1	0	0
11	Punjab	13	144.89	11.15	6	5	0	1	0
12	Rajasthan	25	303.88	12.16	9	6	1	0	2
13	Tamil Nadu	39	424.88	10.89	10	4	2	2	2
14	Uttar Pradesh	85	1008.26	11.86	37	28	6	2	1
15	West Bengal	42	455.83	10.85	17	9	4	3	1
	TOTAL	507	5680.64	11.20	208	134	38	16	20

Under-representation of urban areas will seriously jeopardise consensus and debate

Reproduced from the Economic and Political Weekly, with their kind permission.

The Rediff Election Specials

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