Delimitation: Tamil Nadu Assembly adopts CM Vijay’s resolution to freeze Lok Sabha seats at 543
Amid opposition from some political parties, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) passed a resolution urging the Union government to freeze
Amid opposition from some political parties, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) passed a resolution urging the Union government to freeze the number of Lok Sabha seats at the existing 543 and retain the current proportion of inter-State distribution of seats. The resolution also emphasised maintaining the current Lok Sabha-Rajya Sabha ratio of 2.2:1, while simultaneously implementing 33% reservation for women in the 2029 Lok Sabha based on the existing 543 seats and subsequent Assembly elections without any delay. Moving the resolution, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay said it reflected the concerns of women in every family. Tamil Nadu had many women of distinction who had been part of its identity from the Sangam era to the present day. “We must create opportunities for women to advance in politics. Reservation for women is not a concession. It is a matter of social justice and a constitutional right,” Mr. Vijay said. CM on women’s political representation He said women, who constitute nearly half of India’s population, should be given equal status at all levels. He also pointed out that voter turnout among women in Tamil Nadu was higher than that among men.
However, in terms of political representation, there were only 12 women among the 234 MLAs in the previous Assembly, and the number had now increased to 23. Even though the number had nearly doubled, there had not been a significant increase in the share of women representatives in the Assembly in percentage terms, the Chief Minister said. He said that in 2023, Parliament had passed the 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, providing for one-third reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and all State Legislative Assemblies. However, the Centre had said that the Act would come into effect only after the population census, followed by the delimitation exercise. Further, the Union government introduced the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2026, and the Delimitation Bill, 2026. On April 17, 2026, the Bill failed to secure the support of two-thirds of the members in the Lok Sabha. Although a law providing one-third reservation for women in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies has been passed, the delay in implementing it has created a situation in which the objective of the legislation could remain unfulfilled for years. This amounted to denying women their political rights. Therefore, women’s reservation should not be linked to the population census and delimitation, he said.
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