Delimitation: how to align what is said and what is written
Three Bills concerning delimitation were introduced in the Lok Sabha: the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
The Bills propose raising the maximum strength of the Lok Sabha from 550 to 850 members (up to 815 from States and 35 from Union Territories), and enabling the next delimitation exercise to proceed using the 2011 Census rather than waiting for the first census after 2026 as earlier envisaged.
The Bills also seek to delink the one-third women's reservation in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies from the requirement that it commence only after the first census following 2023, so that it can take effect alongside this delimitation.
During parliamentary debate and consultations with political parties, assurances were given that no State's relative seat share would decline and that all States would see a proportional increase in seats; the text of the Bills does not spell out a specific formula guaranteeing this, and this gap between floor statements and the codified provisions drew sustained scrutiny in the House.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill did not secure the special majority required for a constitutional amendment, receiving 298 votes in favour against 230 opposed — short of the two-thirds-of-those-present-and-voting threshold mandated under Article 368.
Article 82 and the freeze on Lok Sabha seat numbers
Article 82 of the Constitution requires Parliament to re-adjust the allocation of Lok Sabha seats among States, and to re-divide States into territorial constituencies, after every census, through a Delimitation Act. This linkage between seat numbers and population was frozen by successive constitutional amendments to avoid penalising States that achieved earlier and greater success in population control.
Key Details
- The 42nd Amendment (1976) froze the total number of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats at 1971-Census levels until the first census after 2000.
- The 84th Amendment (2001) extended this freeze on seat numbers to the first census after 2026, while permitting intra-State re-adjustment of constituency boundaries using 1991 Census figures.
- The 87th Amendment (2003) substituted the reference so that constituency boundaries would instead be redrawn using 2001 Census figures, again without altering the total number of seats allotted to each State.
The new Delimitation Bill, 2026 breaks with this trajectory by allowing the Commission to use "the latest published census as on the date of its constitution" — effectively the 2011 Census — rather than waiting for the first census after 2026, which is the freeze's original terminal point.
The Delimitation Commission: composition and legal force
Delimitation is not carried out by Parliament or the Election Commission directly but by an independent statutory Delimitation Commission, constituted under a Delimitation Act (most recently the Delimitation Act, 2002) for each round of delimitation.
Key Details
- The Commission is chaired by a person who is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court, appointed by the Central Government.
- Its other members are the Chief Election Commissioner (or an Election Commissioner nominated by the CEC) and the State Election Commissioner of the concerned State.
- Members of Parliament and State Assemblies from the State concerned participate as "associate members" who can be consulted but have no voting power over the Commission's final orders.
- Under Section 10(2) of the Delimitation Act, 2002, the Commission's orders have the force of law and cannot be questioned in any court.
The Delimitation Bill, 2026 provides the statutory basis for constituting a fresh Commission on this pattern, which will translate the Constitution Amendment's expanded seat totals into actual constituency-wise allocations for each State.
Article 368 and the special-majority requirement
Article 368 lays down the procedure for amending the Constitution. A "special majority" — a majority of the total membership of each House and two-thirds of members present and voting — is required for most amendments, including changes to the size and composition of the Lok Sabha.
Key Details
- For amendments affecting the representation of States in Parliament, Article 368(2)'s proviso additionally requires ratification by the legislatures of at least half the States, in addition to the special majority in Parliament.
- The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 needed this special majority in the Lok Sabha to proceed but secured only 298 votes in favour against 230, falling short of the required two-thirds-of-those-present-and-voting threshold.
The Bill's failure to clear the special-majority bar illustrates why constitutional amendments touching seat allocation are deliberately made harder to pass than ordinary legislation — the same rigidity that fuelled the debate over whether the government's oral assurances on seat-share protection were reflected in the Bill's actual text.
The 106th Amendment (2023) and its link to delimitation
The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 inserted Articles 330A and 332A to reserve one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies (including within seats reserved for SCs/STs), for a period of 15 years.
Key Details
- The reservation was made contingent on being brought into effect only after delimitation is undertaken on the basis of the first census conducted after the Act's commencement (i.e., after 2023).
- Rotation of reserved seats after each delimitation is to be governed by a law made by Parliament.
Because the original 106th Amendment tied women's reservation to a post-2023-census delimitation — which, under the pre-existing freeze, would not have occurred until after 2026 at the earliest — the 2026 Bills' proposal to conduct delimitation using the 2011 Census is also designed to advance the timeline for implementing this reservation.
- Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 vote in Lok Sabha: 298 for, 230 against — short of the required two-thirds special majority under Article 368.
- Current Lok Sabha ceiling under Article 81: 550 members (530 from States + 20 from Union Territories); proposed ceiling under the 2026 Bill: 850 members (815 from States + 35 from Union Territories).
- Seat-number freeze timeline: 42nd Amendment (1976) → 84th Amendment (2001, extended freeze to first census after 2026) → 87th Amendment (2003, boundary redrawing on 2001 Census data).
- Delimitation Commission composition: retired/sitting Supreme Court judge (Chair) + Chief Election Commissioner/nominated Election Commissioner + State Election Commissioner; governed by the Delimitation Act, 2002.
- 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023: one-third reservation for women in Lok Sabha/Assemblies (Articles 330A, 332A) for 15 years, contingent on post-2023-census delimitation.