Delimitation showdown: Congress seeks all-party meet, wants 543 Lok Sabha seats frozen for 25 years

Mallikarjun Kharge seeks consensus on delimitation as Congress demands that Lok Sabha representation remain capped at 543 seats for 25 years

PGurus Newsdesk

August 27, 2026

Congress pushes for an all-party consensus on delimitation and wants the Lok Sabha's current 543-seat strength frozen for 25 years

Kharge seeks consensus as Congress pushes to preserve the current parliamentary seat balance

The Congress has sought an all-party meeting to discuss the proposed delimitation exercise and demanded that the current strength of the Lok Sabha be frozen at 543 seats for the next 25 years.

The demand comes amid growing political debate over the redistribution of parliamentary seats after the delimitation exercise. Congress has argued that any change in the current representation could affect the federal balance, particularly for states that have successfully implemented population-control measures.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing the issue as one of “enormous significance” and calling for the existing strength of 543 Lok Sabha seats to be maintained for the next 25 years. The party wants an all-party discussion to arrive at a consensus on the way forward.

The Congress Working Committee had earlier endorsed the demand for keeping the Lok Sabha’s strength unchanged at 543 while seeking implementation of the 33 per cent women’s reservation within the existing number of seats.

The delimitation debate has intensified ahead of the next exercise, with several southern states expressing concerns that a population-based redistribution could alter their share of parliamentary representation. Under the proposed delimitation framework, states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala could see their relative representation decline if the existing 543-seat strength were redistributed on the basis of newer population figures.

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