South’s seat share won’t be cut, say PM and Shah, Pg1

Key Highlights:

• The Prime Minister and Home Minister assured that the proposed delimitation exercise will maintain the proportional representation of southern states in the Lok Sabha.
• The number of seats for each state will increase by approximately 50%.
• The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 were introduced in the Lok Sabha.
• After delimitation, the Lok Sabha will have 816 seats.
• The number of Lok Sabha seats in the five southern states will increase from 129 to 195.

Detailed Insights:

• The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 aims to implement women's reservation by the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
• The Delimitation Bill, 2026 seeks to readjust parliamentary and Assembly constituencies through a Delimitation Commission.
• The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 aims to extend reservation to the legislatures of Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu & Kashmir.
• The Home Minister clarified that after the delimitation exercise, Karnataka's share will become 42 seats (5.14%), Andhra Pradesh will have 38 seats (4.65%), Telangana will have 26 seats (3.18%), Kerala will have 30 seats (3.67%), and Tamil Nadu will have 59 seats (7.23%).
• The percentage share of Lok Sabha seats for the five southern states will increase from 23.76% to 23.87%.
• A Delimitation Commission is a body set up by the Government of India under provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act.

How UPSC asks Questions on this:

Delimitation PYQ

Key Concepts Involved:

• Delimitation: The process of redrawing boundaries of parliamentary and assembly constituencies to represent changes in population.
• Proportional Representation: An electoral system in which parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them.
• Women's Reservation: A proposed policy to reserve a certain percentage of seats in legislatures for women.