NEW DELHI: Setting the ball rolling for the implementation of one-third reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, the Centre on Tuesday proposed a significant increase in the Lok Sabha seats from the existing 543 to 850, after a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
According to three draft pieces of legislation circulated among Members of Parliament, 815 of the proposed seats in the delimitation exercise will represent states, while 35 will be allocated to Union Territories. It was also proposed that the one-third quota for women should be implemented after a delimitation following the “latest published census”. Another key provision of the bill says that the seats reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies “shall be allotted by rotation” across constituencies.
The three bills that will be taken up in the three-day sitting of Parliament on April 16 are the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
The draft bill seeks to amend Article 81, which governs the strength of the Lok Sabha. The proposed amendment says the Lok Sabha will have a maximum of 815 members to be chosen from the states. Also, not more than 35 members are to be chosen from the Union Territories in such manner as the Parliament may by law provide.
The current strength of the Lok Sabha, 543, is based on the 1971 Census. After that, the delimitation exercise has not been done as the 42nd amendment to the Constitution mandated a freeze in delimitation for 25 years until 2001, which was extended by another 25 years till 2026.
The draft bill also seeks to amend Article 82, removing the constitutional requirement that delimitation must follow the 2026 Census.
While it was widely speculated that the government may propose a 50 per cent increase in seats for all states, the bills does not have a mention of such proportional distribution.
“The Constitution Amendment Bill seeks to revise the constitutional framework relating to delimitation, allocation of seats and the meaning of “population”, by providing that readjustment of constituencies and allocation of seats shall be undertaken by the Delimitation Commission based on such census as Parliament may by law determine,” it said.
Responding to the proposed bill, the Congress said that when the intent behind a bill is “mischievous” and its content “devious”, the extent of damage to parliamentary democracy is enormous.
CPI(M) MP John Brittas said that when concerns were raised about the declining representation of the South, the PM and others claimed there would be a proportional increase in seats for all states equally. “However, the draft bills offer no such guarantee. If delimitation is carried out based on the 2011 Census instead of 1971, seats in the North will surge dramatically, while the representation of South will shrink or stagnate,” he said. The Opposition will hold a meeting on Wednesday to chalk out strategies ahead of the session.