Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday (April 16, 2026) assured the Lok Sabha that the representation of southern states in the House will not go down if the women’s reservation law is implemented with an increased strength of the House after delimitation. He said the number of Lok Sabha seats in the five southern states will go up from the existing 129 to 195, with their share increasing from 23.76% to 23.87%.
Strongly backing the implementation of women’s reservation in legislatures from 2029, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said no state will be discriminated against in the delimitation of constituencies, even as the Opposition claimed that democracy would be undermined if the Constitution Amendment Bill is passed.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that the government, in the guise of implementing women’s reservation, intends to “slice and dice” constituencies to ensure its victory in future elections, calling it an “open attack” on democracy.
The BJP is using delimitation as a “political weapon” to expand its influence, said Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi. He accused the Modi government of attempting to “bulldoze” delimitation through the backdoor under the pretext of women’s reservation. Gogoi, who was the first Opposition speaker on the three Bills, described them as “anti-women, anti-caste census, anti-Constitution, and anti-federal structure”.
Shah said a “misconception” was being spread that the proposed Bills would reduce the representation of southern states in the Lok Sabha.
He maintained that the Delimitation Bill, 2026 would not harm these states but instead benefit them. Under the proposed 50% increase model, the strength of the Lok Sabha would rise from 543 to 816 seats, increasing representation across states.
After the passage of the proposed bills and the constitutional amendment, the number of seats for Karnataka will increase from 28 to 42. In that case, in a Lok Sabha of 816 members, Karnataka’s representation will remain around 5.14 per cent, therefore, Karnataka will not suffer any loss.
Union Home Minister said that Andhra Pradesh currently has 25 seats, with a representation of about 4.60 per cent in the 543-member House. After the proposed changes, with an increase of around 50 percent, the number of seats will rise to 38, and Andhra Pradesh’s representation will increase to about 4.65 per cent. Similarly, Telangana currently has 17 seats, with a representation of about 3.13 percent in the existing Lok Sabha. After the proposed increase, the number of seats will go up to 26, and its representation will reach around 3.18 percent.
Amit Shah said that he would like to assure the people of Tamil Nadu that their strength will not decrease but will, in fact, increase. The representation of Tamil Nadu will not decline; rather, it will grow. At present, 39 members are elected from Tamil Nadu, which is about 7.18 percent of the 543-member House. After the proposed 50 percent increase, the number of seats will rise to around 59, and in the new House of 816 members, its representation will be about 7.23 percent. Therefore, it is clear that there will be no reduction in the representation of these states; instead, there will be an increase.
Union Home Minister said that Keralam currently has 20 Lok Sabha MPs, representing about 3.68 percent of the 543-member House. After the proposed increase, this number will rise from 20 to 30, and the representation will remain around 3.67 percent.
According to Shah, if the overall representation of southern India is considered, currently 129 MPs come from the southern states in the 543-member House, which is about 23.76 percent. After the proposed 50 percent increase, this number will rise from 129 to 195, and in the 816-member House, their representation will be around 23.87 percent, i.e., approximately 24 percent. This makes it clear that the overall representational strength of the southern states will increase.
Shah also said that the Union Cabinet has decided to conduct a caste census, and caste-related data will also be collected in the upcoming census. He stated that the census is conducted in two phaes—first, the enumeration of houses, and then of individuals, the first phase is currently underway, in which houses are being counted, and since houses do not have a caste, there is no option for caste in the form at this stage. The Home Minister added that caste-related information will also be recorded while collecting data on individuals during the population enumeration phase.
Shah said that we have not made any changes to the Delimitation Commission Act; we have repeated the existing Act exactly, down to the full stops and commas. He stated that if the Act had been used for any kind of manipulation in the past, he cannot comment on that, but the present government has made no such attempt.
Union Home Minister clarified that the report of the Delimitation Commission will come into effect only after it is approved by Parliament and receives the assent of the President. Therefore, there is no question of this process being implemented before 2029. Shah said that this Act will have no impact on the ongoing elections, whether in Tamil Nadu or West Bengal; there is no question of it being implemented before 2029. All elections to be held up to 2029 will be conducted on the existing seats and under the present practice.
Shah also said that in a democracy, power ultimately rests with the people, adding that no government can manipulate the mandate of citizens.