A full-blown controversy erupted after the contents of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill and the Boundaries Bill to be tabled in Parliament from April 16 were made public. Although they represent a landmark initiative for gender justice to increase women’s participation in the Assembly and Parliament, a close reading of the drafts shows that delimitation is crucial to operationalizing the 33 percent quota for women. Articles 82 and 170 of the Constitution mandate the delimitation of electoral districts after each Census so that each representative in the legislature speaks for approximately the same size of the population. This imperative would be shelved through an amendment severing the boundaries from the Census going forward in 2026. Also, the population for allocating seats is required to be moved from the 1971 data to whatever census “Parliament may by law determine”. The stated aim of the entire exercise is to increase the seats in the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850, thereby creating 281 seats exclusively for women.
Demarcation was in deep freeze for decades due to population imbalances – stabilized in the South but not in the North. This gimmick is about to reappear, as one of the proposed amendments allows for redistricting based on the latest available Census, which is currently the 2011 census. This contradicts the executive’s previous guarantee of a proportional increase in seats for all states whenever redistricting begins. Analysts feel that the 2011 benchmark would translate into a drastic reduction in proportional seats in the South, with Tamil Nadu being the biggest loser as would its representation after delimitation in the Lok Sabha. seats if the current percentage were maintained—a net loss of 11. In contrast, Uttar Pradesh would be the biggest gainer, from 80 to 138—up 13 over the 2011 benchmark.
