INDIA Bloc Unites to Vote Against Delimitation Bill

At the conclusion of an alliance meeting on Tuesday, 13th April 2026, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stated that the INDIA bloc parties unanimously decided to vote against the delimitation provisions in the Constitution (131st) Ammendment Bill, 2026. He added that the opposition is not against reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.

The Trinamool Congress signalled that not all of its MPs might be able to attend Parliament. It drew criticism from the members, according to several members who attended the meeting both in person and virtually. Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, claimed that their absence “will help the BJP.”

The number of Lok Sabha seats would increase from 543 to 850

In order to “operationalise” the women’s reservation rule in 2029, the draft bill calls for increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats following a delimitation process based on the 2011 Census. It’s supposed to increase from the present 543 to up to 850. Additionally, seats on state and UT assemblies would be expanded to provide for a 33% reservation for women.

The administration wants to remove the reservation’s need for a new census and consequent delimitation. Instead of waiting for updated demographic statistics, it intends to enact the Delimitation Bill 2026. It would redraw constituency borders using data from the 2011 census.

Delimitation bill

For the first time, MPs received copies of the draft legislation on Tuesday. It was done despite the fact that political circles had been speculating about the law change for the previous two weeks. According to Article 82 of the Constitution, each State’s allotment of Lok Sabha seats must be modified in accordance with population shifts following each census.

The 1971 census served as the basis for the Lok Sabha’s current membership. Constituency borders were set in stone until the first census following 2026, for the 84th Amendment Act of 2001. The census is scheduled to end in 2027. It started on April 1st.

The proposed amendment to Article 82 of the Constitution would eliminate the whole proviso. According to the measure that will be presented to Parliament. Delimitation based on the most recent census, conducted in 2011, will then be possible as a result.