Tamil Nadu opposing ‘one state, one vote’ in GST council opens Pandora’s Box

The passing of the a hundred and first modification of the structure by parliament in August 2016 and its subsequent ratification by states led to the Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime in India. The amendments made to the structure embody the addition of article 279(A) that incorporates a clause on the set-up and composition of a GST Council and the illustration of states on this council. 
On twenty eighth May, the forty third GST Council assembly was held to debate a variety of points together with exemptions for reduction of COVID-19 materials. However, the assembly was overshadowed by a spat between Goa Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho and Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan.
One shouldn’t be positive what precisely transpired throughout the assembly however the Tamil Nadu Finance Minister’s clarification on Twitter appeared to counsel that he was sad with the thought of every state having an equal vote within the GST council and most popular proportional illustration within the council based mostly on the inhabitants of states. 
@PTRMadurai’s tweetThe one-state-one-vote of the GST council
It shouldn’t be the primary time that Tamil Nadu has voiced points with the thought of “one-state-one vote” within the GST council. As part of the first GST Council held in September 2016, the states of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh argued for various weightage of votes for states. They opined that “states with a population of 20 crores and 1 crore should not be treated equally in terms of votes”.
Smaller states within the GST council reminiscent of Meghalaya, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh objected to this. The erstwhile Chief Minister of Puducherry V Narayanasamy and a member of the Indian National Congress additionally supported the thought of one-state-one vote. The Union Finance Minister at the moment, Arun Jaitely, identified that the problem was deliberated upon by the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha whereas analyzing the modification they usually had agreed to equal vote for all states.
Relevant part of Constitution Amendment Bill for GST Was the Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu blind to the precedents and the consensus that went into framing the one-state-one-vote rule?  Or was he making an attempt to supply a post-facto rationalization for his statements within the GST council?
For P. Thiaga Rajan to then flip round and name himself the messiah for a “truly federal governance model” is apparent hypocritical. Federalism can also be about respecting a rigorously crafted consensus that passed off after protracted negotiations and for a Johnny-come-lately to undermine that is plain silly.  
Delimitation and growing Lok Sabha seats
A extra worrying difficulty for Thiaga Rajan, his social gathering – the DMK and the state of Tamil Nadu is that his assertion is an express endorsement for the adjustment of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituency seats based mostly on the decennial census in order that the “fundamental democratic principle” he espouses is achieved. 
The concept of proportional illustration implies that every Indian citizen’s vote carries the identical weight. However, this isn’t the case right now.  For instance, in 2019, the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency in Hyderabad had greater than 30 lakh voters in comparison with the typical Lok Sabha constituency of 17 Lakh voters.
These disparities earlier have been ironed out by adjusting the variety of seats based mostly on the decennial census. However, in the course of the emergency, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi amended Article 82 of the structure that mandated the adjustment of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituency seats after every census. In 1976, with the forty second modification of the structure, the variety of seats within the Lok Sabha and in state meeting constituencies have been frozen for a interval of 25 years. 
In August 2001, Arun Jaitley because the Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs launched the Constitution (91st) Amendment Bill to additional amend articles 55, 81, 82, 170, 330, and 332 of the structure. This bipartisan transfer was aimed toward extending this freeze on adjustment of seats for an additional 25 years until 2026. In his speech within the Lok Sabha, Arun Jaitley stated that he needed this to be seen as a motivational measure to allow state governments to pursue inhabitants stabilization measures with out the worry of decrease illustration. 
As a results of the delimitation order of 1976, the variety of Lok Sabha constituencies have been frozen at 543 based mostly on the 1971 census inhabitants of 54.8 crores resulting in giant disparities in illustration. 
A 2015 report by Kotak Institutional equities titled Demographic dividend and politics [Google Drive] tries to venture the seats of states based mostly on their inhabitants in 2026. If the overall variety of Lok Sabha seats have been to be frozen at near 550, then the variety of Lok Sabha seats within the state of Tamil Nadu may come down from 39 to simply 28. States like Uttar Pradesh may see a soar from 80 to 96 seats. 
Does the finance minister of Tamil Nadu now endorse the unfreezing and readjustment of Lok Sabha seats in 2026? Does he endorse its implications for Tamil Nadu? Perhaps a studying of verse 843 of the Tirukkural – The ignorant torment themselves greater than they do others – would serve him effectively.