Desk Correspondent , New Delhi – Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal told the Lok Sabha on Thursday that every state's share of seats will rise by 50 per cent in the upcoming delimitation exercise, pushing the total strength of the House from 543 to 815 elected members, with 272 seats reserved for women. The announcement came as the government tabled three landmark bills during a special three-day Parliament session: the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. Meghwal introduced the first two, while Home Minister Amit Shah moved the third. The move is designed to fast-track the long-delayed 33 per cent women's reservation, originally passed in 2023 but held back until fresh delimitation based on the 2011 census data. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the House later today to rally support.

The bills aim to implement the quota from the 2029 elections without reducing any state's current proportional representation. Government sources have repeatedly assured that no state will lose seats, and the uniform 50 per cent hike will simply scale up existing numbers to accommodate women’s reservation while keeping the north-south balance intact. Voting on the bills is scheduled for Friday afternoon. Opposition parties, while broadly backing the women’s quota, have criticised the rushed timeline and questioned whether the Centre is undermining federal principles. Southern states, in particular, remain wary, arguing that any population-based redrawing could still penalise them for successful family-planning drives in the 1970s and 1990s.

The special sitting is an extension of the Budget Session that ended on April 2. If passed, the reforms would mark the biggest overhaul of Lok Sabha composition in decades, expanding the lower house to better reflect India’s population growth while fulfilling a long-standing promise on gender parity in politics. Critics warn that the exercise, though framed as inclusive, could reopen old regional fault lines just months before key state polls.