South's LS seats, political weight to rise: Govt

Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday dismissed the Opposition's claim that southern states would lose representation after the proposed expansion of the Lok Sabha to 816 seats under the women's reservation and delimitation exercise.

Intervening in the Lok Sabha debate on the bills linked to the women's quota law and the creation of a delimitation commission, Shah asserted that both the number of seats and the political weight of southern states will increase - not decline. "The narrative being spread is misleading. Seats will rise, and so will power," he said.

Shah said the combined Lok Sabha strength of the five southern states - Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala - would increase from 129 to 195 seats. Their overall share in the House would also see a marginal rise, from 23.76% to nearly 24%.

Breaking it down, he said Karnataka's seats would rise from 28 to 42, Andhra Pradesh's from 25 to 38, Telangana's from 17 to 26, Tamil Nadu's from 39 to 59 and Kerala's from 20 to 30.

Seeking to allay concerns in the South, Shah made a direct assurance: "I want to assure the people of Tamil Nadu that your strength will not reduce. It is going up."

He rejected allegations that the Centre could manipulate the delimitation process for political gain. "There is no scope for mischief," he said, pointing out that the proposed delimitation framework mirrors existing law. "Not even a comma or full stop has been changed from the earlier legislation brought by your government."

Explaining the jump in total seats, Shah said the figure of 816 represents a 50% increase over the current Lok Sabha strength, aimed at expanding representation in line with population growth while enabling implementation of the women's reservation quota.

Intervening after SP's Dharmendra Yadav sought quota for Muslim women, Shah said earlier in the day: "The SP member has made an unconstitutional statement. Let me make it clear, the question of providing reservation to Muslim women on the basis of religion does not even arise. Our Constitution does not allow at all to give reservation on the basis of religion. I want to make clear our government's resolve that Muslims will not be given reservation on the basis of religion. Such reservation is unconstitutional."

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, with 251 members voting in favour of its introduction and 185 against after some Opposition members, notably AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, sought a division. Shah introduced the Union Territories Laws (Amend) Bill.

The bill proposes one-third reservation for women in legislatures and increasing the Lower House seats to 816. The House clubbed the discussion on the bill with two supporting bills on delimitation the Union Territories.