Delimitation: In data and numbers

If the Lok Sabha’s strength is expanded to 850 and seats are allocated on the basis of the 2011 Census population, as the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill and the companion Delimitation Bill tabled in Parliament envisage, the southern States and the North-East would see a sharp erosion in their share of parliamentary representation, while the Hindi-heartland States of northern India would be the overwhelming beneficiaries.

The two Bills introduced in the Parliament sitting 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) it would replace the constitutional freeze that pegged seat allocation to the 1971 Census with an open-ended formula allowing Parliament to choose the census basis by ordinary law, and c) constitute a Delimitation Commission that would use the latest published census, currently the 2011 Census, to redraw boundaries and reallocate seats. The stated purpose is to operationalise women’s reservation under the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023.