Constitution Bill unfreezes seat allocation, sets 815 maximum for Lok Sabha

It also operationalizes the reservation of one-third of seats for women in these bodies by linking it to a delimitation exercise.

Who it concerns: The Bill affects the composition of the House of the People (Lok Sabha), State Legislative Assemblies, and the Legislative Assemblies of Union Territories (specifically Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir). It impacts political parties, candidates, and voters in these jurisdictions by changing seat allocations and introducing mandatory women's reservation.

What the bill does

• Increases the maximum number of members in the House of the People to 815 (800 from States and 35 from Union Territories).
• Removes the freeze on seat allocation that was based on the 1971 census, allowing readjustment based on the latest census determined by Parliament.
• Mandates that the reservation of one-third of seats for women in the House of the People and State/UT Legislative Assemblies takes effect after a delimitation exercise is undertaken.
• Specifies that the women's reservation will cease after 15 years from the commencement of the 106th Amendment Act (2023) unless extended by Parliament.
• Requires that reserved seats for women be allotted by rotation to different constituencies.
• Updates provisions for Scheduled Tribe reservations in the Legislative Assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura upon readjustment of seats.

Also in the document

• This is a Constitutional Amendment Bill.
• It repeals the third proviso to Article 82 and the third proviso to Article 170(3), which previously prevented fresh readjustment of constituencies until after the first census taken after 2026.
• The Bill links the implementation of women's reservation to the delimitation process to avoid delays in women's participation in democracy.