What happens if there is no Constitutional Amendment on Delimitation?
The story so far: The BJP is keen to kick off a fresh delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies. It is trying to garner a two-thirds
The story so far: The BJP is keen to kick off a fresh delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies. It is trying to garner a two-thirds majority in Parliament to pass a Constitutional amendment for this purpose. In April 2026, it had moved the amendment but could not pass it. The Centre has not revealed its exact proposals. The proposals that the Centre placed before Parliament in the previous Session were the following 1) Increase the size of the Lok Sabha up to a maximum of 850 seats; 2) distribute these seats among the States on the basis of the 2011 Census through a fresh, countrywide delimitation of constituencies; and 3) reserve one-third of the total seats for women. According to the existing Constitutional provisions, a fresh delimitation is possible only after the data of the 2027 Census is published, and reservation for women can be rolled out only along with it. What happens if there is no Constitutional amendment connected to delimitation? For a fresh delimitation to happen, a Constitutional amendment is not required. A fresh delimitation will be triggered soon after the data of the 2027 census is published. The terms for the next delimitation are already written into the Constitution, principally in Articles 81 and 82. A Constitutional amendment is required only if the existing constitutional provisions relating to delimitation are to be changed. Articles 81 and 82 mandate—not an optional choice of the executive—that after the data from the first Census conducted after 2026 is published, two things will happen. The first is a reallocation of the existing strength of the Lok Sabha among the States and Union Territories on the basis of the population recorded in that Census, which would, in this case, be the 2027 Census. The second is the delimitation of individual constituencies within each State. Therefore, if there is no Constitutional amendment at all, there will be a delimitation exercise that must begin after the data of the 2027 Census is published. Q) Can a fresh delimitation triggered by the publication of the 2027 Census data be completed before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections?
May or may not. In the past, delimitation exercises took several years. The last one was set up on 12 July 2002, after the 2001 Census, with Justice Kuldip Singh, a retired Judge of the Supreme Court, as its chairperson. Its recommendations were implemented in 2008, and the 2009 Lok Sabha elections were held based on newly drawn constituencies. The last delimitation did not involve a reallocation of seats of individual States; only the existing constituencies within each State were redrawn. The last time Lok Sabha seats were reallocated among States was in 1973, based on the 1971 Census. That ratio remains as of today. The 2027 Census is the first time that data gathering has been completely digitalised. Theoretically, it is possible that Census data analysis and the delimitation process could be quicker than before. If the exercise is not completed before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, it could continue into the term of the next Lok Sabha and the government. The last Delimitation Commission was appointed during A. B. Vajpayee’s tenure as the Prime Minister, and its work was completed during the first term of the Manmohan Singh government, with a Lok Sabha election in 2004 in between. The same can happen with the next Delimitation Commission. In the absence of a Constitutional amendment, what will be the mandate of the next Delimitation Commission? If a fresh delimitation is triggered under the existing provisions of Articles 81 and 82, the following will happen. At present, the distribution of the 543 Lok Sabha seats among the States is based on the population figures of the 1971 Census. When the benchmark changes from the 1971 population to the population recorded in the first Census after 2026, the distribution of seats is likely to change significantly. Broadly speaking, the southern States are likely to face a reduction in their share of Lok Sabha seats, while the Hindi-speaking States, particularly Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan, are likely to gain seats. There could be an increase of up to 550 seats in the Lok Sabha.
The BriefWire