Centre plans Lok Sabha expansion to 850 seats, women’s quota from 2029

New Delhi: The Centre has set the stage for a transformative redrawing of India's electoral map by proposing a cap of 850 seats for the Lok Sabha, with sources indicating a likely uniform 50% increase for both Parliament and assemblies. The move could raise the future majority mark beyond 400 while incorporating over 270 women MPs under a quota system from 2029.

Ahead of the April 16 special sitting, a legislative package of three bills - Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Delimitation Bill, 2026, and Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 - has been circulated among MPs. The law minister is set to introduce the first two bills while the home minister will move the third, aimed to operationalise the women's reservation from the 2029 elections.

A senior government functionary told ET that Lok Sabha and assembly seats are likely to see a near-uniform percentage increase across states. The bill, however, is silent on the issue, leaving it to the delimitation commission.


At the core of the proposal are seven Constitution amendments, including key changes to Articles 55, 81, 82, 170, 330, 332 and 334A. The amendment to Article 81 lays the groundwork for expanding the Lok Sabha from 543 to around 816 seats, with a cap of 850 - a limit sources say is unlikely to be revised in the foreseeable future.

Passage of these amendments will require a two-thirds majority of members present and voting, making support from key Opposition parties such as Congress, SP, Trinamool and DMK crucial. And also ratification by 50% states.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to intervene in the debate while home minister Amit Shah is likely to reply and deliver the concluding remarks. The expansion is aimed at accommodating a 33% quota for women, roughly translating into 273 seats. On the census basis for delimitation, the bill allows population figures to be determined from a census "as Parliament may by law decide", utilising the latest data. While the 2011 census remains the last published dataset, the 2027 census, which began on April 1, is currently underway.

A three-member delimitation commission, led by a current or retired judge and including Election Commission of India representation, will redraw constituencies. Significantly, the framework removes any obligation to carry out delimitation after every census, allowing the government to trigger it through a simple law passed by a simple majority.

Reserved seats for women will be rotated across constituencies, triggering a churn in political strongholds. The proposed law also aims to extend the quota to Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry, with ECI acting as the delimitation authority for assembly segments in Pakistan-occupied J&K, where 24 seats remain vacant.

The move advances the implementation timeline of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam by five years. The current law had linked reservation to post-2027 census delimitation, effectively pushing it to 2034. The new package seeks to ensure that the 2029 elections are held with the full quota in place, with the reservation valid for 15 years unless extended.