New Delhi: The Union government has proposed to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 by amending Article 81 of the constitution through the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026. The Bill provides for the redistribution of seats based on Census 2011, and seeks to amend Article 82 by omitting its Clause 3, which provided that the next delimitation would follow Census 2026.The Bill is being introduced just before a special session of parliament scheduled for April 16-18, in which the Modi government seeks early implementation of reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures.Accordingly, the proposed Bill also seeks to amend Article 334A to allow reservation of one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures, which will be done after delimitation.The Nari Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 (the 128th constitutional amendment Act) passed unanimously in parliament in September that year, provided for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures but tied it to delimitation following the next census.The 131st Constitution Amendment Bill proposes redistributing seats on the basis of Census 2011 even as Census 2026 is currently underway.In its statement of objects and reasons, the new Bill acknowledges that the number of seats in the Lok Sabha was frozen based on the population figures recorded in Census 1971, which served important policy purposes. It adds that the country’s demographic profile has since undergone “substantial changes”, as seen in the population figures of Census 2011.Also read: How to Overcome the Doubts Holding Back Women’s Reservation Until 2034 And BeyondIt says there have been “significant” inter-state and intra-state population shifts (migration), rapid urbanisation and “disproportionate growth” in certain regions, resulting in “wide disparities in the population and the constituencies”.The statement says that the next census – and the consequential delimitation exercise after it – “will take considerable time and thus delay the effective and dedicated participation of women in our democratic polity”.“Hence, the objective of the proposed Bill is to operationalise one-third reservation for women, including women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes”, in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies as well as the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territories.This will be done through a “delimitation exercise to be undertaken on the basis of the population figures of the latest published census”, it says, referring to Census 2011.In this way, the statement says, the reservation of seats for women will be linked to the constitutional scheme of readjusting the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly seat allocations and “re-drawing boundaries of territorial constituencies by the Delimitation Commission.”It also says that the proposed Bill will facilitate delimitation of territorial constituencies and “put in operation the provisions providing for reservation of seats for women”, which will promote inclusivity and help achieve the goal of “Viksit Bharat” by 2047.Also read: A Win-Win Constitutional Path to Women’s Reservation Without Census, Delimitation or DelayA copy of the 131st Amendment Bill was circulated among members of parliament on Tuesday (April 14), along with two other bills – the Delimitation Bill, 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. This is just two days before the special session the Union government plans to convene.Opposition MPs had earlier said that the government has called a special session for early implementation of the women’s reservation without providing any details of the changes it wants to make in the existing arrangement as per the 2023 reservation Bill.The 2023 legislation tied women’s reservation to a fresh census and delimitation exercise. It provided that the “provisions relating to the reservation of seats for women … shall come into effect after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first census taken after [the Bill is passed] have been published”.Now the Modi government’s proposed amendment to the constitution aims to delink women’s reservation from the delimitation exercise. The Union government has, in recent weeks, reached out to opposition parties to build consensus to amend the legislation to ensure early implementation of reservations.Opposition parties’ demand for an all-party meeting to discuss the proposed changes after the ongoing assembly elections has not been accepted. The parties have also said that no discussion can take place without details of the government’s proposals that aim for early implementation of the 33% quota for women leaders.