• The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced in Lok Sabha on April 16, 2026.  It seeks to amend the Constitution with regard to delimitation.

• Delimitation on the basis of population:  The delimitation of constituencies to Lok Sabha will be on the following basis: (a) each state will have seats in proportion to its population, (b) seats within each state will have the same population.  The Constitution provides that the readjustment of the number of seats would be made after every census.  Through a Constitution Amendment in 1976, this readjustment was deferred for 25 years.  Another Constitution Amendment in 2001 froze the seat share of states for a further 25 years (until the first census after 2026), but allowed for readjustment within each state.  This Bill removes the freeze, and returns to the principle that all Lok Sabha constituencies across states will have roughly the same population. 

• Parliament to decide the census to be used:  The Bill removes the requirement to carry out delimitation after each census.  It further provides that delimitation will be carried out based on the population from such census, as Parliament may determine by law.  Relevant figures of such census must have been published.

Along with the Constitution Amendment Bill, the Delimitation Bill, 2026 has also been introduced.  This Bill provides that the latest census whose figures have been published at the time of constitution of the Delimitation Commission, must be used.  This implies that the 2011 census will be used for the next delimitation.

• Increase in the maximum number of seats in Lok Sabha:  The Constitution provides that Lok Sabha will have a maximum of 550 members with up to 530 members from states, and up to 20 members from union territories.  The Bill increases the maximum number of members to 850, with up to 815 members from states, and up to 35 members from union territories.

• Commencement of reservation for women:  The 106^th Constitutional Amendment in 2023 introduced reservation of one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women.  It provides that reservation will come into effect after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken for this purpose, based on the first census after the commencement of the 2023 Act.  The Bill removes the requirement for delimitation to be based on the first census after the commencement of the 2023 Act.