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.
