DMK lays down conditions as government steps up efforts to pass delimitation Bill

Published 6 August 2026 · politics

As the Narendra Modi government explores the possibility of bringing in a constitutional amendment Bill to carry out a fresh delimitation exercise, the Dravida Munnetra

As the Narendra Modi government explores the possibility of bringing in a constitutional amendment Bill to carry out a fresh delimitation exercise, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has put down three conditions to support the Bill. There is a freeze based on the 1971 amendment to the Constitution that ends after the 2027 Census. The DMK wants this freeze to remain for another 25 years while amending the Constitution to introduce a 50% blanket increase in the Lok Sabha seats for all States which was verbally promised by Home Minister Amit Shah when the legislative package aimed at bringing about delimitation was brought in Parliament in April. Additionally, they want a schedule of the number of seats that each State will have in the legislative package, as per sources in DMK. According to sources, the DMK has informally conveyed these conditions to the government. Officially, the party continues to maintain that it will take a final call on supporting or not supporting the legislation only after the Bill is circulated.

These conditions come amid renewed efforts from the government to reach out to the Opposition, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju speaking to Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi again on Thursday (August 6, 2026). “I had a productive conversation with Rahul Gandhi. I have made a request on a few specific issues and also discussed other matters. We expect continuous communication and coordinated action with the Congress and other Opposition parties,” Mr. Rijiju said. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister had also met Mr. Gandhi at latter’s office in Parliament on Wednesday (August 5, 2026) during which the Congress leaders are also said to have reiterated their opposition to any constitutional amendment to carry out the delimitation exercise. Though the government doesn’t have the two-thirds majority yet to push through a constitutional amendment, the political situation has changed since April 17, 2026, when the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill was defeated on the floor of the House.

The numerical strength of the INDIA bloc has since vastly changed. In the present 540-member Lok Sabha, the two-third majority mark is 360, and if 22 Lok Sabha members of the DMK vote for the Bill, the government’s strength would go up to 346. Though the government is short of 14 MPs from the two-third majority mark, the threshold changes if there are abstentions or MPs absent themselves from the proceedings. Shah had earlier said that once it is assured of the numbers, the government would once again bring the constitutional amendment Bill to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha to 850 seats in order to implement the 33% reservation for women after fresh delimitation. Since April, the government has secured the support of 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs, who are now part of the Citizens Party of India (NCPI), and six Shiv Sena MPs who had switched sides from the Uddhav Thackeray faction to the Eknath Shinde-led faction.