The bill would raise the Lok Sabha’s ceiling from 543 to 850 seats. File. | Photo credit: ANI
If the strength of the Lok Sabha is expanded to 850 and seats are allocated on the basis of the 2011 census as provided in the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill and the companion Delimitation Bill tabled in Parliament Assume that the southern states and the northeast would see a sharp erosion in their share of parliamentary representation, while the Hindu heartland states of northern India would be overwhelming beneficiaries.
The two bills introduced in the parliamentary session from April 16 seek to do three key things. a) it would raise the Lok Sabha ceiling from 543 to 850 seats (815 from states and 35 from Union territories), b) replace the constitutional freeze that tied the allocation of seats to the 1971 census with an open-ended formula that would allow Parliament to choose the basis for the census by ordinary law, and c) create a delimitation commission that would use the last published census2 to redistribute seats. The stated purpose is to operationalize reservation for women under Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023.
Published – 16 April 2026 19:30 IST
