Risks in India’s delimitation debate

Why in News?

The Union government is keen to kick off a fresh delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies; in April 2026, it had moved an amendment to the delimitation bill, but could not pass it.

What is Delimitation?

• Delimitation – It is the process of fixing the number of seats and boundaries of territorial constituencies in each State for the Lok Sabha and Legislative assemblies.
• Article 81(1) – It states there can be no more than 550 members in the Lok Sabha, 530 from states and 20 from Union Territories.
• Article 81(2)(a) – The ratio of the number of Lok Sabha seats allotted to a state and the population of the State shall be the same for all states.
• Article 81(2)(b) – Ratio between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it shall be the same throughout the State.
• Article 82 – It states that after every Census is completed, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to each state must be adjusted based on population changes.
• Past delimitation exercises – Delimitation has taken place 4 times - 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002, with the number of seats fixed and readjusted during the first 3 exercises.

To know more about Delimitation, click here

Key proposals placed before Parliament in the previous Session

• Increase the size of the Lok Sabha up to a maximum of 850 seats;
• Distribute these seats among the States based on the 2011 Census through a fresh, countrywide delimitation of constituencies; and
• Reserve one-third of the total seats for women.

What happens if there is no Constitutional amendment?

• No need of constitutional amendment – For a fresh delimitation to happen, a Constitutional amendment is not required.
• 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.

• Trigger for delimitation – A fresh delimitation will be triggered after the 2027 census data is published. This is because the Constitution mandates action after the first Census conducted post-2026.
• Mandatory delimitation after 2027 – If there is no Constitutional amendment at all, there will be a delimitation exercise that must begin after the release of 2027 Census data.
• If no amendment, two things will happen after the census - 
  • Reallocation of the existing strength of the Lok Sabha among the States and Union Territories on the basis of the population recorded in the new Census.
  • Delimitation of individual constituencies within each State.

Can a fresh delimitation be completed before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections?

What will be the mandate of the next Delimitation Commission?

• Current seat distribution – 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 seat distribution is likely to change.
• Likely impact – 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.
• The maximum number of Lok Sabha seats allowed by the Constitution is 550.
• Women reservation – A third of the Lok Sabha seats nationally, and one-third of the seats within each State, will be reserved for women.
• Mandated sequence if no amendment – In the absence of any Constitutional amendment, the following sequence is envisaged:
  • The reallocation of Lok Sabha seats among States;
  • The delimitation of constituencies within States; and
  • The implementation of women’s reservation — all tied to the Census 2027.

How is the allocation of seats to each State determined?

• Likeness with Family

• Variation in representation – In 1967, an MP across most major States represented roughly four to five lakh electors.
• Today, an MP from Kerala represents about 14 lakh electors, while in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the figure is around 19 lakh, which shows how the value of each vote differs across States.
• Policy decisions – The above variation is the result of a deliberate decision by all parties, taken on two occasions, in 1976 and 2001, not to punish States that had stabilised their populations.
• The Constitution gives that leeway, that the size of Lok Sabha constituencies is not necessarily based on a national average, which today would be about 18 lakh voters per constituency.
• Flexibility of Article 81 – It requires seats to be allocated among States “so far as practicable”, on the basis of a national average.
• This leeway for variation allows for a balance between two principles that can be in tension:
  • Federalism, or representation of States, and
  • Democracy, or one vote, one value.
• Main issue – The debate on delimitation now needs to resolve the tension between
  • Representation of States (federal balance).
  • Equal value of votes (democratic fairness).

What is gerrymandering?

• Gerrymandering – It is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries to give one political party or group an unfair advantage over others.
• The practice distorts fair representation by engineering election outcomes, often resulting in bizarrely shaped voting districts.
• Principle of equal numbers – The democratic principle of One Person, One Vote, One Value, the first requirement is that every Lok Sabha constituency should have roughly the same number of voters.
• Equal numbers not equal to equal value – Even if constituencies have equal numbers of voters, the value of each vote may still differ.
• Impact of grouping – Even if constituencies have the same number of voters, the way those voters are grouped can dramatically affect electoral outcomes.
• Thus, equal numbers alone do not guarantee equal value for every vote.

Reference

The Hindu | The stakes in India’s delimitation debate