Centre Must Align Delimitation Assurances with the Constitutional Amendment Bill

SUBJECT: POLITY & GOVERNANCE

Context

The Union Government has expressed its intent to initiate the long-pending delimitation exercise through a Constitutional Amendment Bill and a Delimitation Bill.

In April, the Centre introduced the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill along with the Delimitation Bill. The proposals aimed to:

• Increase the maximum strength of the Lok Sabha from 550 to 850 seats.
• Allocate seats among States based on the latest available Census (2011 Census).
• Redraw parliamentary constituencies within each State using the latest Census.
  • Under the existing constitutional framework, reallocation of seats among States can take place only after the first Census conducted after 2026 (expected after 2027).
• Implement one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha immediately, instead of waiting for the post-2026 delimitation exercise.

Issue: Difference Between Government Assurances and the Bill

The proposals differed from the government’s earlier public assurances.

The Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister had repeatedly stated that:

• No State would lose its existing share of Lok Sabha seats.
• Every State would receive roughly a 50% increase in seats, while maintaining the current proportional distribution among States.

However, the proposed Bills linked seat allocation to the latest Census, which could significantly alter the State-wise distribution of seats.

Implications

• States with higher population growth would gain more seats.
• States that successfully controlled population growth—particularly Southern States and some Northeastern States—could see their relative share decline.
• This contradiction prevented political consensus.
• Since a Constitutional Amendment requires a special majority (two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha), the Amendment Bill failed, and consequently the Delimitation Bill was not taken up for voting.

Core Constitutional Challenge

The key challenge is to:Carry out delimitation while preserving the existing proportional representation of States in the Lok Sabha.

Relevant Constitutional Provisions

Article 81

• Deals with the composition of the Lok Sabha.
• Provides for allocation of seats among States.

Article 82

• Provides for readjustment of seats and delimitation after every Census, based on a law enacted by Parliament.

At present, the existing State-wise allocation enjoys constitutional protection.

However, this protection expires automatically after the publication of the first Census conducted after 2026.

Three Different Census References in the Constitution

The Constitution currently refers to three different Census years for delimitation-related purposes.

Second Major Issue

The April proposals sought to replace these multiple Census references with a single reference to the latest Census.

This would have enabled:

• Immediate redistribution of Lok Sabha seats among States.
• Reallocation based on current population trends.

Concern

Such redistribution would disproportionately benefit high-population-growth States, while reducing the relative representation of States that achieved population stabilisation.

To honour its earlier assurances, the Centre would therefore need to extend the existing freeze on inter-State seat allocation.

Previous Freezes

• 1976–2001 (25 years)
• 2001–2026 (25 years)

Possible Constitutional Solution

A practical solution would be to amend Articles 81 and 82 by:

1. Extending the Freeze

• Replace the reference to the first Census after 2026 with a future Census (for example, the first Census after 2051).

2. Retaining the 1971 Census

• Continue using the 1971 Census as the basis for inter-State allocation of Lok Sabha seats.
• This would preserve the existing proportional representation of all States.

3. Updating Constituency Delimitation

• Replace the reference to the 2001 Census with the 2011 Census solely for redrawing constituency boundaries within each State, without altering the number of seats allotted to any State.

Advantages of This Approach

• Preserves the current balance of representation among States.
• Addresses concerns of Southern and Northeastern States regarding loss of political representation.
• Enables constituency delimitation using updated population data.
• Facilitates implementation of the Women’s Reservation provisions based on newly delimited constituencies.
• Helps build broader political consensus while remaining consistent with the government’s public assurances.