The delimitation debate has triggered fresh political tensions after Congress MP Shashi Tharoor proposed adopting a European Union-inspired model to address concerns over representation imbalance in India. Tharoor urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate wider consultations with states, warning that a population-based approach could disadvantage southern states that have effectively implemented population control policies. He cited the European Union’s system of “degressive proportionality”, where representation is balanced through minimum and maximum thresholds, ensuring smaller states are not overshadowed by larger ones. The proposal comes amid growing political unease over the impact of delimitation on federal balance, with opposition parties accusing the Centre of rushing the process without consensus. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has criticised the government’s approach, while other regional parties have raised concerns about the absence of updated caste data, warning that it could skew representation and reservation outcomes. The issue has now evolved into a larger political debate over federalism, demographic fairness and the future structure of parliamentary representation in India.