CM Vijay to move Assembly resolution seeking protection of existing Lok Sabha seat allocation
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is expected to introduce a resolution in the state Assembly seeking permanent protection for the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats and the present state-wise distribution of parliamentary constituencies. The resolution will also call for 33 per cent reservation for women to be implemented from the 2029 general election.
The date for tabling the resolution has not yet been announced. The move follows a meeting chaired by Vijay at Kalaivanar Arangam on Saturday to discuss the proposed delimitation exercise.
The meeting was not attended by the DMK or AIADMK, both of which criticised the proposed exercise as unnecessary and politically driven. The PMK, an AIADMK ally, also stayed away.
Twenty-one MPs took part in the meeting. They included 11 Congress MPs, two each from the CPI, CPI(M) and VCK, and one each from the MDMK and IUML. Congress leader P Chidambaram, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan and MDMK leader Durai Vaiko were among those present.
The proposed resolution notes that the strength of Parliament and state Assemblies has remained linked to the 1971 Census for about five decades, with elections conducted on that basis.
It also refers to a Constitution Amendment Bill introduced in April 2026 that sought to end the long-standing restriction on delimitation and allow the exercise to be based on the 2011 Census. The proposed legislation included a plan to raise the Lok Sabha’s strength from 550 to 850 members, but it did not secure parliamentary approval.
Tamil Nadu’s position is that using population data from a Census conducted after 1971 could alter the political representation of southern states, including Tamil Nadu, for the long term.
The state government argues that states which successfully pursued population control, economic development, healthcare and welfare programmes should not lose political representation as a consequence.
The resolution therefore proposes three safeguards. It seeks to permanently retain the Lok Sabha’s strength at 543 members, maintain the current allocation of seats among states and preserve the existing Lok Sabha-to-Rajya Sabha ratio of 2.2:1.
The resolution will also press for women’s reservation to begin with the 2029 Lok Sabha election. Tamil Nadu wants the 33 per cent quota to be applied to the existing 543-seat House rather than waiting for delimitation to change its composition.
It will further urge the Centre to extend the one-third reservation to future elections to state Legislative Assemblies.