Congress MP Hibi Eden has moved a notice to oppose the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026. He argues the bill, which proposes delimitation based on the 2011 census, is an attack on the Constitution that will disadvantage southern states.
Hours before the convening of a special Parliament sitting, Congress MP Hibi Eden on Thursday moved a notice to oppose the introduction of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, 2026, flagging disadvantages to southern states.
The Constitutional Amendment bill’s implementation is tied to a population-based revision of constituencies based on the 2011 census. It proposes delimitation – a wider political overhaul – aiming to change the size and composition of state legislative assemblies and Lok Sabha.
‘Attack on Constitution, skews federal balance’
“The Bill is a clear attack on the Constitution and by amending Articles 82 and 334A of the Constitution, the Bill removes the constitutional anchor that historically tied delimitation to the latest census. Therefore, the Bill seeks to arbitrarily increase seats in Lok Sabha and redraw boundaries, which is bound to disadvantage southern states such as Kerala and skew the federal balance in favour of the Hindi Heartland states,” Eden said in his notice submitted to the Lok Sabha Secretary-General.
He said that the Constitutional Amendment bill was the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) attempt to hasten delimitation for political gains and escape the caste debate entirely. He said that the bill has nothing to do with the women’s quota.
“By way of the present Bill, the Government has not addressed the issue of reservation for Anglo- Indians, which was discontinued after the 104th Constitutional Amendment. It is therefore imperative that this Bill is withdrawn as a raises serious concerns regarding federalism, fair representation and the democratic structure of India,” the notice read.
Congress questions timing, lack of census data
Meanwhile, Congress leader Udit Raj questioned the timing of the special Parliament sitting and raised concerns over the non-availability of OBC and women’s statistics and due to the delay in conducting a fresh census.
“There was no need to conduct this session right now. Delimitation will have to be done if you want to give women a reservation. You will not get the statistics of the OBCs and women till the census is conducted. The census should be conducted first. This is against women’s reservation and the benefits of the OBCs,” Raj told ANI.
Govt’s plan to increase Lok Sabha seats
The Centre has called a special sitting of Parliament from April 16 to 18. The government is planning to implement the women’s reservation ahead of the 2029 General Elections by bringing in an amendment to the 2023 Act and a constitutional amendment to delink the delimitation process from the 2027 census.
The government has proposed to increase the number of seats in the House to 850, with 815 seats proposed for the States and the remaining 35 for the Union Territories. The Lok Sabha has 543 seats at present. (ANI)
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