Articles 82 and 170
Delimitation Machinery and the Post-2001 Freeze
Delimitation is the constitutionally mandated exercise of redrawing Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies after each census, but its execution for total seat numbers has been frozen for over two decades.
- Article 82 requires Parliament to enact a Delimitation Act after every census to readjust Lok Sabha seat allocation among States and re-divide constituencies within States; Article 170(3) provides the parallel mechanism for State Assemblies.
- The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 first froze each State's total seat allocation at 1971 Census levels, to avoid penalising States that had controlled population growth relative to others.
- The 84th Amendment Act, 2001 extended this freeze on total State-wise seat numbers until the first census taken after 2026, while still permitting intra-State constituency boundary readjustment using 2001 Census data.
● Tracked since April 19, 2026 · last seen July 18, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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