Govt proposes increase of seats in Lok Sabha to 850; Bill shared with MPs

If a delimitation takes place after a fresh Census, the bill said it will take 'considerable time' and 'delay the effective and dedicated participation" of women in the democratic polity.

New Delhi: A contentious bill seeking for an early implementation of 33 per cent women's quota has proposed increasing the number of seats in Lok Sabha to 850 – 815 for states and the remaining for union territories – from the existing 550 while proposing no change to the upper limit of 500 constituencies in Assemblies.

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 proposes that the 33 per cent quota in Lok Sabha and Assemblies be implemented after a delimitation following the “latest published census”, allowing the government to make Census 2011 as the base for earmarking seats for women while removing the provision for a Census conducted after the enactment of the 2023 law for its roll out.

It also removes the Constitutional provision for delimitation of seats after every Census by empowering the Parliament to make a new law on the periodicity of such an exercise, as it amends the definition of "population" to mean figures arrived after at "such Census, as Parliament may by law determine, of which the relevant figures have been published".

The government has circulated the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, The Delimitation Bill, 2026 and The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 on Tuesday, as Parliament is set to reconvene Budget Session on April 16 to pass these Bills to enable the implementation of women's quota in 2029 Lok Sabha polls.

While the government has intimated some parties that it proposes to increase the seats by 50% that was objected by the Opposition, the Bills are not clear on how the Lok Sabha seats will be distributed among states and the increase in Assembly constituencies.

According to the Bill, Lok Sabha shall consist of not more than 815 members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the states and not more than 35 members to represent the Union territories, chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law provide. At present, it is 530 and 20 respectively.

With the Bill not increasing the upper limit of Assembly seats presently set at 500, Uttar Pradesh with 403 constituencies will be the only state that may not be able to increase seats by the proposed 50 per cent.

Besides amending Articles 81, 82 and 170 that deals with the number of seats and delimitation, the Bill also proposes changes to Article 334(A) for the early implementation of women's quota. The seats earmarked for women will be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a state or union territories.

According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons, The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill would facilitate delimitation of territorial constituencies and put in operation the provisions providing for reservation of seats for women in Lok Sabha and Assemblies.

"This will also promote women empowerment and provide opportunities for women to participate in the nation-building process. In addition, the increased representation of women in the decision-making process will promote inclusivity and help in achieving the goals of Viksit Bharat@2047," it said.

The number of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats were frozen in 1976 on the basis of 1971 Census following arguments that some states had managed to perform well in population control and they should not be at a disadvantage compared to others, especially states like Uttar Pradesh and some other north Indian states. The freeze was till 2001 and then extended to a delimitation following the first Census after 2026.

"While the freeze of seats on the basis of population figures of the year 1971 census served an important policy purpose, the country’s demographic profile has since undergone substantial changes, as reflected in the population figures of the latest published census, including significant inter-State and intra-State population shifts, rapid urbanisation and migration, and disproportionate growth in certain regions, resulting in wide disparities in the population and the constituencies," the Bill said.

If a delimitation takes place after a fresh Census, it said it will take "considerable time" and "delay the effective and dedicated participation" of women in the democratic polity.

"The objective of the proposed Bill is to operationalise" one-third reservation for women, including women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, in Lok Sabha and Assemblies through delimitation exercise to be undertaken on the basis of the population figures of the latest published census.

"Thus, the implementation of reservation of seats for women is linked to the constitutional scheme of readjustment in the allocation of seats in the House of the People and the Legislative Assemblies and re-drawing boundaries of territorial constituencies by the Delimitation Commission," it added.