Amid the heated debate over delimitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, April 16, promised that the delimitation process will not discriminate against any state. Addressing the House, the PM said that he will give a guarantee for it. “With a lot of responsibility, I want to tell this from this holy place: Whether it is the south or north or west or east, or a big or a small state. This decision-making process will not discriminate against any state. It won't commit injustice against anyone.”
“The government that was in power before, under whom the delimitation happened, and the proportion that has been in place since then, there will be no change in that proportion. The expansion will also be according to that proportion,” he added.
When an MP questioned if he could guarantee that, he promptly responded: “If they want me to employ the word guarantee, then I will use it. When our intent is clear, we need not play with words.”
In his speech, the PM called for an apolitical approach towards the Bill, which has interlinked women’s reservation to it. He warned that if the Opposition opposes the women’s quota bill, then the exercise will bring political gains to him and urged them not to politicise the issue.
TNM had earlier reported that the MP seats are likely to be increased uniformly by 50% for all states and union territories so that their current share of seats in the Lok Sabha will remain unaltered.
The Opposition parties are rejecting the Delimitation Bill, 2026, the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, arguing that the BJP was trying to bring in “unfair” delimitation in the guise of implementing women’s reservation.
However, a TDP source told TNM that the BJP plans to increase each state’s seat share by exactly 50%. In the face of fierce protests from the opposition parties, the BJP or its allied parties are expected to move for an amendment to the Bill, which will bring in a uniform 50% increase to the existing seats.
However, it remains unclear if such a provision would be brought in as an amendment or merely as a verbal assurance. If it is the latter, that would put the TDP in a tricky position.
Meanwhile, political analyst Yogendra Yadav pointed out that the PM has made an assurance of proportional expansion when the bills do not mention it.
“So the PM repeats the assurance that an increase in seats will be ‘proportionate’ without specifying any provision in the proposed bills that achieves it. So the game is clear: the government might concede a proportionate increase this time by amending the Delimitation bill that has been tabled but will not incorporate it in the Constitution Amendment.”
He said that the net result of it is that "the existing Constitutional guarantee would be taken away, though a temporary concession would be made. Any future government would be able to change it with a simple majority.”