Congress MP and General Secretary Jairam Ramesh. File | Photo credit: The Hindu
The Congress on Wednesday (March 30, 2026) claimed that the Modi government was proposing to “bulldoze” a bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50%, with the number of seats allocated to each state also increasing by 50%, saying such a move would “disadvantage” smaller states in the south, northeast and west.
There has been no official word on the opposition party’s claims.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has already raised an alarm over the issue and others may very well follow once the proposal is officially public.
“The Modi government is proposing to table a bill that would increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50%. It is also proposed to increase the number of seats allotted to each state by 50%,” Mr. Ramesh said on X.
According to him, the argument that a 50% increase in seats across the board is fair is misleading.
The proportion may not change at present, but there are deeper implications which cannot be wished for, the Congress leader said.
Opinion: Ensuring federalism within delimitation
“Any increase in the disparity in the existing strengths of various states in the Lok Sabha will disadvantage the South Indian states,” argued Mr. Ramesh.
“For example, Uttar Pradesh currently has 80 seats and Tamil Nadu 39. With the proposed bill, UP’s strength will increase to 120, while Tamil Nadu will go up to 59 at best. Similarly, Kerala will go from 20 Lok Sabha seats to 30 seats, while Bihar will move from 40 to 60 seats, while northern states will gain 6 seats overall. 200 places,” he argued.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unilaterally drafting a law that will disadvantage smaller states in the south, northeast and west, Ramesh alleged.
“The Chief Minister of Telangana has already raised the alarm. Others may very well follow when this proposal is officially public,” he added.
Last week, the Congress hit out at PM Modi and said the “Ustad” now wants to introduce the Women’s Reservation Act without completing the delimitation and census exercise by passing the amendments in a “special two-day session” of Parliament.
The opposition party claimed it was a “weapon of mass diversion” to change the narrative away from the “foreign policy failures and failures of the government and the LPG and energy crisis the country is facing”.
Mr. Ramesh said the Modi government is also planning to increase the size of the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas by 50%, which also needs careful consideration.
In September 2023, the new House of Parliament was inaugurated with the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill – or Nari Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 – which amended the Constitution to provide one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas, and also provided for one-third reservation for women in seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Both these reservations were to be put into operation after the delimitation and enumeration was completed.
The government is considering submitting an amendment to the Women’s Quota Act to implement it without delimitation and census.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had discussed the issue with some NDA voters and some non-Congress opposition leaders last month. However, consultations with the main opposition party, the Congress, and the other major party, the TMC, have yet to take place.
In September 2023, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill. The Act is officially known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act.
Follow | Explained: What’s the Delimitation Controversy About?
Published – April 1, 2026 12:21 PM IST
