NEW DELHI, APRIL 16 — The Union government has introduced a series of bills aimed at significantly expanding the Lok Sabha, with Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal declaring a planned 50 percent increase in seats for every state. The announcement was made during a special sitting of Parliament called to address the administrative requirements for rolling out the women’s reservation quota.
The expansion would see the lower House grow to 815 members, a move the Law Minister stated is necessary to accommodate the 272 seats specifically reserved for women. To achieve this, the government is moving forward with the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill and related constitutional amendments, which rely on 2011 census data to redraw constituency boundaries.
“The total Lok Sabha seats would be 815, and 272 will be reserved for women,” Meghwal noted, affirming that the uniform percentage increase is intended to protect the interests of all states during the transition.
However, the strategy has drawn sharp criticism from the Opposition benches. Critics asserted that a delimitation process based on decade-old census figures fails to account for recent demographic shifts and could penalize states that have successfully managed population growth. Rahul Gandhi, leading the Opposition response, declared that a fresh census including caste-based data is essential for an equitable distribution of power. Despite these objections, the government maintained that the current roadmap is the most effective way to ensure the 2029 elections include the mandated women’s quota.
