Tyranny of Numbers

Context

The call at an all-party meeting chaired by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, in Chennai on Wednesday, to freeze the strength of the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for 30 years beyond 2026 might seem like pushing away a pressing problem into the distant future.

The challenges in 2056, when delimitation is eventually taken up, could be far more complex than those of the last exercise, conducted after the Delimitation Commission was set up in 2002.

Even if the northern States bring down the fertility rate to replacement level by that time, the grouse of the southern States, that seat share as a proportion of the total strength of the Lok Sabha will come down, will still not find redress

Delimitation

Delimitation is a constitutional mandate carried out after each Census to readjust the number of seats in Parliament and state Assemblies and redefine constituency boundaries.

Article 82 of the Constitution mandates that after each Census, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats must be adjusted based on population changes.

Pre-1976: After the Censuses of 1951, 1961, and 1971, seats in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and state Assemblies were redistributed.

42nd Amendment (1976): During the Emergency, Parliament froze the total number of seats until the 2001 Census to prevent states with lower population growth from losing representation while implementing family planning measures.

The 84th Amendment Act of 2001 empowered the government to undertake readjustment and rationalisation of territorial constituencies in the states on the basis of the population figures of 1991 census.

The 87th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the delimitation of constituencies on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census.

The Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.

Composition:

1)Retired Supreme Court judge

2)Chief Election Commissioner

3)Respective State Election Commissioners