Implications of increasing the size of the Lok Sabha

TThe government has released three bills related to delimitation and reservations for women. These Bills are expected to be considered in the extended Budget session from 16-18 April and could affect the working of Parliament in a number of ways. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill proposes the following. The limit on the size of the Lok Sabha will be increased from 550 to 850. The number of seats of each State in the Lok Sabha will depend on its proportion in the population of all States. This population will be based on the census (not necessarily the most recent census) determined by Parliament by legislation. The bill also states that the reservation of one-third of the seats for women will be valid after the limitation and will be valid for 15 years. The Delimitation Bill establishes a Delimitation Commission and its provisions are similar to the last law created in 2002. More importantly, it requires the use of the most recent published Census. For this reason, it is recommended that the next limitation be made based on the 2011 Population Census. The Third Bill extends these provisions to three Union Territories with legislatures: Delhi, J&K and Puducherry.

These suggestions have various implications. First of all, the freeze on seats until the first census after 2026 has been lifted. Instead, seats will be decided based on the 2011 Census. The immediate implication is that the relative share of seats in the Lok Sabha will vary for each State. While the biggest losers were Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the real winners were Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. While the proposal will equalize the voting value of every citizen irrespective of their State of residence, it will ensure that MPs from UP and Bihar (from 22% to 25% of the total number of seats) have significant power in shaping national policy.