Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill 2026 and Delimitation Bill Shelved Following Lok Sabha Vote

Key facts

• The Government of India decided to drop the Delimitation Bill 2026 after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill 2026 failed to pass in the Lok Sabha.
• The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which proposed 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies, secured 278 votes in favour and 211 against, falling short of the required two-thirds majority.
• Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that the delimitation exercise was interconnected with the women’s reservation amendment and the proposed extension of the quota to Union Territories (UTs).
• The delimitation exercise, mandated under Articles 82 and 170 of the Constitution of India, involves redrawing parliamentary and assembly constituencies based on census data.
• Under the shelved proposal, most states were expected to see a 50% increase in seat allocation, while Sikkim, Nagaland, and Mizoram would have seen no increase in parliamentary seats.
• The legislation also included a proposal for a marginal rise in representation for Scheduled Castes (SC) in the Lok Sabha.