Delimitation Freeze
42nd and 84th Constitutional Amendments
Delimitation is the process of redrawing constituency boundaries and reallocating seats based on population, carried out under Article 82 (for the Lok Sabha) and overseen by a Delimitation Commission. Seat numbers have been frozen at 1971 Census levels since the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, a freeze extended by the 84th Amendment Act, 2001 until the first Census conducted after 2026.
- The Lok Sabha's current strength of 543 seats reflects the 1971 Census, not current population distribution.
- The freeze was intended to avoid penalizing states that achieved faster demographic transition (lower population growth) through more effective family planning, mostly in the south.
- The Delimitation Bill, 2026 (introduced alongside the 131st Amendment Bill) proposed using 2011 Census data rather than waiting for the post-2026 Census, which is the specific point of contention.
● Tracked since June 08, 2026 · last seen August 21, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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