The provision for the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies in the Constitution of India is primarily contained in Article 82, although certain provisions of Article 81 also influence the process.
A. Article 82
The key provisions here are:
1. Following every census, the number of Lok Sabha seats for each state shall be determined, and the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats within the states shall be carried out. Parliament holds the authority to enact laws in this regard.
2. The new delimitation shall come into effect only upon the issuance of a notification by the President.
3. The 42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976) stipulated that a new delimitation would take place only after the 2001 census. Subsequently, the 84th Constitutional Amendment (2001) mandated that the next delimitation would be based on the census conducted after 2026. The primary reason for freezing delimitation was to ensure the success of the government’s population control policy; states were not prioritizing population control because they sought to secure a higher number of Lok Sabha seats based on population size.
B. Article 81
Article 81 contains certain provisions regarding Lok Sabha seats that impact the delimitation process:
1.The allocation of Lok Sabha seats among the states shall be in proportion to their respective populations, ensuring a uniform ratio between seats and population across all states.
2.Within each state, the ratio of seats to population across all Lok Sabha constituencies shall be uniform.
Thus, the 42nd Constitutional Amendment froze the increase in the total number of Lok Sabha seats for each state until 2001, and the 84th Constitutional Amendment (2001) extended this freeze until after 2026. However, the 84th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2001, permitted the use of the 2001 census as the basis for the readjustment of Lok Sabha constituencies (varying in size) within a state.
Delimitation of State Legislative Assemblies
Article 170 provides for the increase in the number of seats in State Legislative Assemblies and the determination of their constituencies. Both the aforementioned amendments also apply to the delimitation of Legislative Assembly seats. This means that while the total number of seats in a state’s Legislative Assembly will not be increased until 2026, readjustments between constituencies of varying sizes can be made based on 2001 population data.
Delimitation Commission
Parliament is vested with the authority to enact laws regarding the delimitation of the Lok Sabha under Article 82 and the Legislative Assemblies under Article 170. Typically, Parliament enacts legislation to constitute a Delimitation Commission after every census. A new law is enacted for each new Delimitation Commission. The Commission automatically dissolves after submitting its delimitation Report/order. A copy of the order of the Commission as published in the Gazette is also laid before each hose of Parliament or the State Legislative Assembly as the case may be. The order of the Commission carries the force of Law.
To date, Parliament has enacted laws to constitute Delimitation Commissions on four occasions:
Delimitation Commission Act, 1952,
Delimitation Commission Act, 1963,
Delimitation Commission Act, 1973, and
Delimitation Commission Act, 2002.
The first three commissions handled both the determination of the number of Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly seats and their mutual readjustment. In light of constitutional amendments, the fourth commission (2002) did not alter the total number of seats allocated to states but carried out the task of readjusting constituencies within states based on the 2001 census. A new Delimitation Commission will be constituted after the 2027 census; it will undertake both the expansion of the number of seats and their mutual readjustment.
It should be further noted that the under the Delimitation Commission constituted under the 2002 Act was headed by justice Kuldeep Singh but did not carry out the delimitation of parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in certain states like Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. When Jammu and Kashmir state was reconstituted in 2019 as UT, the Union government appointed another Delimitation Commission in 2020 under the old Delimitation Act, 2002 to carry out the remain task of delimitation in these states and UTs. The 2020 Delimitation commission was headed by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, which carried out delimitation in remaining States/UTs as mentioned above. Thus, under the 2002 Act, two delimitation Commissions were appointed.
Controversy Surrounding Delimitation
When the government granted one-third reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies through the 106th Constitutional Amendment, a stipulation was attached: the reservation would only come into effect following the delimitation exercise conducted after the census scheduled for 2026. The government now realizes that delays in the 2027 census and the subsequent delimitation process could prevent the implementation of women’s reservation in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
Consequently, the government seeks to amend the Constitution to enable the provision of reservation for women as early as 2029. Such an amendment would eliminate the need to wait for 2027 census data; instead, delimitation could be carried out based on 2011 population figures, allowing reservation to be implemented in the 2029 elections. The government had introduced a constitutional amendment for this purpose during the 2026 Budget Session, but it failed to pass due to the lack of a special majority.
The core of the controversy lies in the opposition from five southern states regarding delimitation. These states argue that if Lok Sabha seats are increased based on current population figures, their share of seats relative to northern states would diminish; this is because southern states have successfully controlled population growth since 1971, whereas northern states have experienced rapid population expansion.
In light of this opposition, the government has proposed a 50 percent increase in the current number of Lok Sabha seats for all states, thereby maintaining the existing ratio of seats among them. This would bring the total number of Lok Sabha seats to approximately 750. The government aims for this 50 percent increase so that, even after reserving one-third of the additional seats for women, the number of seats available for existing members would remain comparable to the current 543. The government is currently striving to garner the necessary majority for this proposal. If the proposed constitutional amendment is not passed, implementing women’s reservation for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections will not be feasible. Thus, the issue of delimitation has become a subject of political dispute between the northern and southern states.
As far as the legal position is concerned, Articles 81 and 82 both stipulate that the number of Lok Sabha seats must be determined based on population. Even if the demands of the southern states were to be implemented, a constitutional amendment would be required. If no solution is reached, the provisions of Articles 81 and 82 will automatically come into effect following the 2027 census, without the need for a constitutional amendment. The need for a constitutional amendment arises specifically from the demand to implement women’s reservation prior to the 2027 census.
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