delimitation bill

The Delimitation Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on April 16, 2026, as part of a legislative package to overhaul India's electoral map and operationalize women’s reservation. [1, 2]

Key Features of the 2026 Legislation

The government introduced three interconnected bills: the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. [1, 3, 4]

Expansion of Lok Sabha: Proposes increasing the maximum number of seats in the Lok Sabha from 550 to 850 (815 for states and 35 for Union Territories).
Lifting the Seat Freeze: Removes the long-standing freeze that based seat allocation on the 1971 Census.
Census Baseline: Allows the next delimitation exercise to be based on the 2011 Census (the latest published data) instead of waiting for the results of the upcoming 2027 digital census.
Women's Reservation: Links the delimitation exercise to the immediate implementation of the 33% women's quota (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) for the 2029 general elections.
Delimitation Commission: Establishes a commission chaired by a current or former Supreme Court Judge, along with the Chief Election Commissioner and State Election Commissioners. [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Projected Impact on State Representation

Initial projections from PRS Legislative Research suggest significant shifts in political weight if seats are redistributed strictly by population: [1, 11]

State [10, 12, 13, 14, 15]	Current Seats	Projected Seats (Approx.)
Uttar Pradesh	80	128
Bihar	40	70
Maharashtra	48	68
Tamil Nadu	39	41
Kerala	20	19

Note: While the government has assured southern states that their representation will not be reduced, critics argue their relative influence will shrink compared to faster-growing northern states. [16, 17, 18]

Current Status and Debate

Parliamentary Progress: The bills were introduced during a three-day special session starting April 16, 2026. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill requires a two-thirds "supermajority" for passage, which the ruling NDA coalition currently lacks without support from unaligned parties.
Opposition: Led by the INDIA bloc, opposition parties have protested the bill. Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin and others have called it an attack on federalism, fearing it "punishes" states that successfully implemented population control.
Government Stance: Home Minister Amit Shah stated that all elections until 2029 will remain on existing seats and that the new bill ensures "women-led development" without immediate loss to any state. [2, 9, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21]