What is delimitation? How constituencies are drawn, and why the freeze matters

Delimitation is the redrawing of constituency boundaries, and the setting of how many seats each state has, so that constituencies stay roughly equal in population. The Constitution asks for this after every census. Article 82 says that upon completion of each census, the allocation of seats and the division of each state into constituencies shall be readjusted "by such authority and in such manner as Parliament may by law determine".

The aim written into Article 81(2) is that the ratio between a state's seats and its population is, so far as practicable, the same for all states, and that each constituency in a state has, so far as practicable, the same population. The same rule for state Assemblies is in Article 170(2). See Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Sabha compared for how the Houses differ.

A proviso to Articles 81, 82 and 170 says no readjustment is needed of the allocation of seats to states as readjusted on the 1971 census, or of the division into constituencies as readjusted on the 2001 census, until the figures of "the first census taken after the year 2026" are published. The 1971 freeze on the number of seats was first added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, which held it until after the year 2000. The 84th Amendment (2001) moved the year to 2026. The reference to the 2001 census for the division of constituencies was substituted by the 87th Amendment in 2003.

The freeze lifts on publication of the figures of the first census taken after 2026. That is Census 2027, not "2031" and not "the 2026 census". Houselisting began on 1 April 2026. We have not found any confirmed date for publication of the results, so this page does not say when the freeze will end.

Section 10(2) of the Act says a published order "shall not be called in question in any court", and Article 329(a) bars courts from questioning the validity of a delimitation law. Delimitation Commissions have been set up under the Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002. The 2002 Act repealed the 1972 Act. The exercise it governed used the 2001 census and took effect in 2008. It redrew boundaries and the location of reserved seats without changing the number of seats allotted to each state.

The 106th Amendment reserves seats for women, but takes effect only after a delimitation based on census figures published after it comes into force. Any statement that women's reservation will apply at a particular election is a projection, not law. How seats should be shared among states once population is counted afresh is a live political debate. This page does not report a new Delimitation Commission, because we could not confirm that one has been constituted.