New Delhi: The government’s legislative push to reserve a third of the seats in Parliament and state legislative assemblies involves raising the cap on seats in the Lok Sabha from 550 to 850, with the allocation of seats to states, the reserved constituencies and their boundaries being defined by a delimitation commission on the basis of the latest census, which would mean the 2011 one in this case.
The details emerge from the bills circulated by the government to lawmakers ahead of the three-day sitting of Parliament between April 16 and 18, including The Delimitation Bill, 2026, The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026.
To be sure, it wasn’t immediately clear how the current proportional representation of states in the Lok Sabha will be maintained as the government has maintained.On Tuesday, speaking to reporters after the bills were circulated, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said that no state will lose seats, and seats across every state and region will be fairly distributed.
“If you go through all the provisions of the bill, every state, region and community has been taken care of… there is nothing to worry about. In the past some people tried to mislead that the southern states would lose out due to their successful family planning. In fact these southern states are fortunate that despite controlling population growth and having fewer people proportionally, they still gain,” he said.
A functionary familiar with the details said the bill didn’t go into the details of the seat distribution, because the delimitation commission will take a call on the particular details of the arrangement.
Southern states have already expressed their concerns over their proportional representation in the Lower House of Parliament reducing.
On Tuesday, after the bills were circulated, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin reiterated those concerns.
“We do not even know how this delimitation exercise is going to be carried out. No explanation has been provided so far regarding the proposed Constitutional amendment,” he said even as he warned of massive agitations and protests “if anything was done harming the state or if the political power of northern states was disproportionately increased in delimitation.”
Delimitation Based on 2011 Census
In the briefing, Rijiju also confirmed that the 2011 Census would be the basis for the delimitation exercise. HT’s analysis shows that if the 2011 Census were to be used, the proportional representation of the five southern states taken together would reduce to 18% from 20.1% and that of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar increase to 25.1% from 22.1%
Women’s reservation linked to delimitation
The Constitution amendment bill , which proposes changes to the 128th Constitution amendment bill or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, requires a two-thirds majority to pass, while the delimitation bill can be passed with a simple majority.
Neither bill mentions the actual number of seats, nor the proportion of increase. Neither also mentions what happens to state assemblies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described the legislative push as the most significant one of the 21st Century (for India). “Let all political parties come together to unanimously take forward this initiative, which concerns the rights of the sisters and daughters of the nation,” he said at a public meeting in a Dehradun on Tuesday. “…I once again appeal to all political parties across the country to extend their full support to the amendment of the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’. In 2029, we will ensure that 50 per cent of our country’s population receives their rightful due,” he said.
According to information previously shared by people familiar with the matter in the government, the current 543 seats in the Lok Sabha will go up to 815 or 816, with all the extra ones being reserved for women. If the move goes through, it will mark the steepest rise since the first delimitation in 1952.
The government will also introduce the Union Territories (Amendment) Law for conducting delimitation in all UTs and reserving seats for women in Delhi, J&K and Puducherry assemblies.
Arguing for the early roll-out, law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal stated in the bill, “The next census and the consequential delimitation exercise thereafter will take considerable time and thus, delay the effective and dedicated participation of women in our democratic polity. Hence, the objective of the proposed Bill is to operationalise one-third reservation for women, including women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, in the House of the People and the Legislative Assemblies of the States, the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union territories through a delimitation exercise to be undertaken on the basis of the population figures of the latest published census. Thus, the implementation of reservation of seats for women is linked to the constitutional scheme of readjustment in the allocation of seats in the House of the People and the Legislative Assemblies and re-drawing boundaries of territorial constituencies by the Delimitation Commission.”
“The proposed Bill would facilitate delimitation of territorial constituencies and put into operation the provisions providing for reservation of seats for women in the House of the People and the Legislative Assemblies. This will also promote women empowerment and provide an opportunity for women to participate in the nation-building process. In addition, the increased representation of women in the decision-making process will promote inclusivity and help in achieving the goals of Viksit Bharat@2047,” he added.
The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed unanimously by both Houses of Parliament in 2023.
The government earlier wanted to wait for the publication of 2027 census figures for delimitation and roll out the women’s quota from 2034 Lok Sabha polls.
The amendments require support from by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting.
Under the new plan, the delimitation commission will look into the last published census, or the 2011 census data to redraw constituencies. If the bills are passed during the upcoming session, government functionaries are hopeful that the women’s quota and the enhanced seats can be rolled out for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
“In article 81 of the Constitution,–– (a) for clause (1), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:–– “(1) The House of the People shall consist of— (a) not more than eight hundred and fifteen members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the States; and (b) not more than thirty-five members to represent the Union territories, chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law provide,” the Constitution amendment bill said, raising the ceiling of Lok Sabha seats to 850.
At present Article 81 limits the Lok Sabha seats to 550—530 seats from the states and 20 from UTs.
With the ongoing 2027 census figures yet to come out, both the Constitution amendment bill as well as the delimitation bill makes way for enumeration based on the 2011 or the last published census.
“In this article, the expression “population” means the population as ascertained at such census, as Parliament may by law determine, of which the relevant figures have been published’,” the amendment bill said. The delimitation bill clarified that “latest census figures” means “the latest census figures published as on the date of the constitution of the Commission under section 3.”
The amendments to the women reservation bill will put the Opposition in a fix as they have to fine-tune their strategy to oppose only the amendment of Article 81 and 82 and not to be seen opposing the landmark law.
The reservation for women will be expire after the fifteen years from the commencement of the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023 unless Parliament may by law extend the period for such further time as it may specify in this behalf, the bill added. The reservation will be decided by rotations.
The bill clarifies that Mizoram and Lakshadweep, which has its sole Lok Sabha seats reserved for tribals, will also have its additional seats, if any, reserved for tribals.
Meghwal, who will introduce the bill in the Lok Sabha, said in the statement of objects and reasons, “While the freeze of seats on the basis of population figures of the year 1971 census served an important policy purpose, the country’s demographic profile has since undergone substantial changes, as reflected in the population figures of the latest published census, including significant inter-state and intra-state population shifts, rapid urbanisation and migration, and disproportionate growth in certain regions, resulting in wide disparities in the population and the constituencies.”
“The said provisions contemplate that such reservation shall become operative after the first delimitation is undertaken on the basis of the relevant census taken after the commencement of the said Amendment Act,” he added.
