Amit Shah Chairs Southern Zonal Council on Delimitation and Water

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council in Kovalam, where chief ministers from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana addressed inter-state disputes and political representation. A primary point of contention was the upcoming delimitation of Lok Sabha seats. Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar urged the Union government to use the 1971 census as the basis for delimitation and maintain the current 543 seats for 25 years, arguing that southern states should not be penalized for successful population control.

Tamil Nadu and Karnataka both stressed the importance of maintaining the current seat count to protect their political voice. In response to water security concerns, Amit Shah advocated for resolving pending disputes through dialogue and proposed a massive river-linking project. This initiative would connect major rivers from the Brahmaputra to the Cauvery and Godavari to prevent shortages and establish cost-effective waterways.

Regarding regional administrative disputes, the leaders of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana agreed to resolve the division of assets and liabilities through further consultations. The meeting served as a forum for balancing national infrastructure goals with the specific political and resource concerns of the southern states.