Constitution Amendment Bill moots possible change in size of State Assemblies
The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, was recently introduced in a Special Session of Parliament (commencing April 16, 2026) to facilitate a major overhaul of the size and composition of State Legislative Assemblies and the Lok Sabha.
The Bill proposes the following key changes regarding the size of State Assemblies:
- Removal of the 1976 Freeze: It seeks to delete the third proviso of Article 170, which has frozen the readjustment of State Assembly seats based on population figures since 1976.
- Seat Augmentation: The proposal moots a significant increase in the number of seats. For the Lok Sabha, the cap is proposed to rise to 850 members (815 for States and 35 for UTs). A similar pro-rata increase (potentially around 50%) is suggested for State Legislative Assemblies to accommodate new demographic realities.
- Decoupling from Future Census: The amendment allows the government to conduct delimitation based on the "latest published Census" (currently 2011) or a Census specified by Parliament, rather than waiting for the results of the first Census conducted after 2026.
- Operationalizing Women's Reservation: The change is explicitly linked to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women's Reservation Act, 2023). By restarting delimitation immediately, the government aims to implement the 33% reservation for women in State Assemblies by the 2029 elections.
- Delimitation Commission Authority: The Bill assigns the task of determining the total strength of State Assemblies and redrawing territorial constituencies to a Delimitation Commission chaired by a former or sitting Supreme Court judge.
- Ratification Requirement: Since these changes affect the composition of state legislatures, the Bill requires ratification by at least 50% of the State Legislatures after being passed by a special majority in both Houses of Parliament.
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