NEW DEHLI, APRIL 15: The Union government plans to introduce the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, on April 16, seeking to expand the Lok Sabha to 850 seats. This move aims to facilitate the implementation of a 33 percent women’s reservation by the 2029 General Election. By shifting the legislative framework, the government intends to utilize 2011 Census data to redraw constituencies across the country.
This draft legislation is part of a three-bill package designed to delink the women’s quota from the census following 2026. Under the current legal landscape, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam of 2023 requires a fresh census before the reservation can take effect. The new proposal seeks to lift the 2026 freeze on delimitation that has been in place since 2001, allowing the government to move forward using existing population figures.
“The population ascertained at such Census, as Parliament may by law determine under Article 82 or Article 10, of which the relevant figures have been published,” the draft Bill stated regarding the new definition of population. Since the 2011 Census remains the most recent published data set, it would serve as the foundation for the new seat allocations.
The proposal includes a significant increase in the Lower House’s strength, moving from 543 to 850 members. Of these, 815 members would represent territorial constituencies in states, while 35 would represent Union Territories. The 33 percent quota for women within this structure would include proportional sub-quotas for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women and remain in effect for 15 years.
Critics have raised concerns regarding the potential impact on regional representation. Manish Tewari, the Congress MP from Chandigarh, noted that the proposal might create an imbalance between states.
“The Bills circulated today will only skew the federal balance to the detriment of the southern, north-western and eastern states, which will bring down their relative weight in the larger national polity,” Tewari maintained. He asserted that states with successful development indices between 1971 and 2011 might face reduced bargaining power under this model.
