Blanket 50% increase in Lok Sabha seats in all states will disadvantage South India: Congress

The Union government is proposing to “bulldoze” a bill to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha by 50%, the Congress alleged on Wednesday.

Party leader Jairam Ramesh said on social media that the constituencies in each state are also proposed to be increased by 50%.

It was unclear which draft delimitation legislation he was referring to.

If delimitation is carried out in this manner, the strength of the Lok Sabha would increase to 815 from 543. However, the proportion of the seats a state has out of the total constituencies in the House would remain unchanged.

Ramesh, however, claimed it would be deceptive to argue that a 50% increase in seats across the board would be equitable. “Proportions may not change for the present but there are deeper implications that cannot be wished away,” he contended.

Delimitation is the process of fixing the boundaries of electoral constituencies. Article 82 of the Constitution states that after every census is completed, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to each state must be adjusted based on changes in their population.

The composition of the current Lok Sabha is based on the 1971 census. According to the 84th Amendment Act of 2001, the constituency boundaries were frozen until the first census after 2026.

The population census, which began on Wednesday, is expected to conclude in 2027.

Any increase in the gap in the existing strengths of states in the Lower House of Parliament will place southern states at a disadvantage, he said.

“For instance, currently Uttar Pradesh has 80 seats and Tamil Nadu has 39. With the proposed bill, UP’s strength will zoom to 120 while Tamil Nadu will crawl up to at best 59,” Ramesh said.

The Lok Sabha seats in Kerala will increase to 30 from 20 and in Bihar to 60 from 40, he added. “Overall, the southern states will gain 66 seats while the northern states will gain 200 seats,” the Congress leader said.

This would not change the proportion of seats a state has out of the total constituencies in the Lower House.

Ramesh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “unilaterally preparing a law which will disadvantage smaller states” in southern, northeastern and western India.

The Union government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has not yet commented on the matter.

The Telangana chief minister has raised an alarm, Ramesh said, referring to comments made by A Revanth Reddy on Monday. “Others may very well follow as this proposal becomes officially public,” he added.

Reddy had on Monday criticised the Union government’s proposal to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats by a blanket 50% across all states. He said that the change will disproportionately benefit northern states and will politically marginalise those in the south, The Hindu reported.

Southern states have repeatedly expressed concern that population-based delimitation could give an undue advantage to northern and central states in the Lok Sabha.

Opposition states, especially from southern India, had in March 2025 formed a joint action committee to present a united front on matters pertaining to delimitation.

The Union government is considering amending the women’s quota law so that it could be implemented without the need for delimitation and the census, according to reports.

The law passed in September 2023 reserves one-third of the seats in Lok Sabha and Assemblies for women. The provision will take effect only after a census is conducted, followed by a delimitation exercise or the redrawing of boundaries to the constituencies.

Also read:

• Modi’s new parliament could see Hindi belt gain, South lose power at the Centre
• Hindi belt opposition parties support delimitation, disagree with ally Stalin