The federal dilemma of delimitation

The story so far:

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has passed a resolution urging the Centre to permanently freeze the number of Lok Sabha seats at the existing number of 543 and maintain the present State-wise distribution of those seats. It also advocated the preservation of current ratio of 2.2:1 between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats. It sought the implementation of one-third reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha from the 2029 election onwards, without linking it to any future census or delimitation.

Defining delimitation

Delimitation means the process of fixing the number of seats and boundaries of the territorial constituencies in each State for the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies. This ‘Delimitation process’ is performed by ‘Delimitation Commission’ that is set up under an act of Parliament. The last time when the number of seats were determined was on the basis of 1971 census population.

‘Democracy’ means ‘rule or government by the people’. It follows that the government is elected by a majority with the broad principle of ‘one citizen-one vote-one value’. Article 81(2) of the Constitution provides that the ratio between the number of seats and population of a State, shall as far as practicable be same for all the States. The number of seats in the Lok Sabha based on 1971 census was fixed at 543, when the population was 54.8 crores. This broadly translated to an average population of 10.1 lakhs per constituency. However, it has been frozen as per 1971 census in order to encourage population control measures so that States with higher population growth do not end up having higher number of seats. This was done through the 42nd Amendment Act till the year 2000 and was extended by the 84th amendment act till 2026. This number will have to be readjusted based on the first census after 2026 which would be the next census in 2027. In 2023, through the 106th Constitutional Amendment, the Parliament had provided for one-third reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies. This would be through delimitation based on the census in 2027.

The issues involved

The population explosion that happened in our country during the last five decades has been uneven, with some States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan witnessing a greater increase than States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The ratio between the current number of seats and the projected population of States as of 2026 does not satisfy the core democratic principle of ‘one person-one vote-one value’ (Table 1). On the other hand, the increase in the number of seats among various States based on the current population (to 848) is provided in Table 2. Southern States, smaller states in the North, as well as the North Eastern States, are bound to be at a disadvantage when compared to large north Indian States in such a scenario. This would be against the federal principles of our country. It also goes against the philosophy for freezing the seats as per 1971 census with the States that have been better at controlling the population losing out on their political significance.

The population explosion that happened in our country during the last five decades has been uneven.

Current proposal by the Centre

The Union government had introduced the Constitution 131st Amendment Bill in April 2026 to increase the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats from existing 550 to 850. The Home Minister made an oral assurance in the Parliament that the number of seats in each State/Union Territory would be increased by 50% on a pro-rata basis. However, this bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha. There are expectations that the government may introduce the bill again, in the near future with explicit provisions for 50% increase in seats for all States/Union Territories on a pro-rata basis.

The larger implications

The are two main arguments in support of the proposal for 50% pro-rata increase. First, it would not alter the current proportion of representation of various States/Union Territories in the Lok Sabha. Second, it would enable seamless reservation of one-third seats for women with the additional 272 seats being reserved for women out of the enlarged house of around 816 seats.

However, such an increase has its share of challenges. Firstly, the current strength of Rajya Sabha is 245 that results in a ratio of 2.2:1 between the total strength of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. An increase in Lok Sabha seats by 50% without altering seats in Rajya Sabha would skew this ratio to 3.3:1.

In the event of disagreement between the two houses on any bill, there is a mechanism for Joint Sitting under the Constitution to resolve the deadlock. Though used rarely in the past (only 3 times since Independence), this increased strength in the Lok Sabha runs the risk of rise in such joint sittings to push through Bills. In such a scenario, it would diminish the role of the Rajya Sabha as an effective check and balance on the Lok Sabha. Secondly, considering that the Lok Sabha sits for only around 60 days in a year, there would hardly be any meaningful time for each MP to raise their issues in the house. The purpose of the house would then be reduced to mere numerical representation rather than meaningful deliberation.

Finally, the increased cost to the exchequer because of additional MPs including allocation for the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds needs to be borne in mind.

Harmonious reconcilliation

The issue arises as the democratic and federal principles seem to be at loggerheads in the delimitation exercise as currently envisaged. However, they can be harmoniously reconciled by giving equal importance to both. The main work of a Member of Parliament is to legislate on the ‘Union List’ subjects such as defence, external affairs, railways, telecommunication, taxation etc. and hold the Central government accountable. A majority of the schemes of the Central Government are implemented only by the State governments. Hence, the number of MPs in Lok Sabha may be frozen at the present number of 543, which would ensure no disruption to the current representation of various States. This would maintain and uphold the federal principle. One-third reservation for women can be provided out of the existing 543 seats. The number of MLAs in each State may be increased in line with the current population to address the democratic representational requirement.

(Rangarajan R. is a former IAS officer and author of ‘Courseware on Polity Simplified’. He currently trains at ‘Officers IAS Academy’. Views expressed are personal.)