Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday, 17 June 2026 called for an increase in the number of Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies, arguing that India requires greater legislative representation to ensure fair and proportional democracy.

Context

Rijiju's statement — 'India needs more MPs and MLAs for fair and proportional representation' — comes as the constitutional freeze on parliamentary and assembly seat numbers approaches a critical juncture. The 84th Constitutional Amendment (2001) extended an earlier freeze, originally imposed by the 42nd Amendment (1976), that locked the total number of Lok Sabha and state assembly seats to figures derived from the 1971 Census, keeping that freeze in place until 2026.

With the freeze period now expiring, the minister's remarks signal that the ruling establishment is actively engaging with the question of whether — and how — to expand the size of Parliament and state legislatures.

Policy Backdrop

India's Lok Sabha currently has 543 seats, a number unchanged for over five decades despite a dramatic rise in population. The original rationale for the freeze was to prevent states with higher population growth from gaining disproportionate political weight at the expense of states that had performed better on population control — a concern that remains live, particularly among southern states.

A Delimitation Commission, a statutory body constituted periodically to redraw constituency boundaries, would be central to any expansion exercise. Successive governments have been cautious about triggering fresh delimitation, wary of the political sensitivities involved in redistributing seats between high-growth and low-growth states.

Rijiju, who as Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs oversees the government's legislative agenda and its relationship with both Houses of Parliament, is among the most senior voices on questions of parliamentary procedure and reform.

Stakeholders and Impact

The debate over seat expansion cuts across regional and partisan lines. Populous northern and central states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan stand to gain more seats if fresh delimitation is carried out on the basis of a recent census. Southern states — including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana — have consistently raised concerns that they would be penalised for successfully managing population growth by losing relative representation in Parliament.

State legislatures face a parallel question: many assemblies have not seen their seat counts revised in decades, raising questions about whether individual constituencies can meaningfully serve the millions of voters they now encompass.

What's Next

The immediate trigger for any legislative action would be the completion of a fresh national census — itself overdue — and the subsequent constitution of a new Delimitation Commission. Any move to increase the total number of parliamentary or assembly seats would require a constitutional amendment, demanding broad political consensus.

Rijiju's public statement is likely to intensify debate among political parties, constitutional experts, and state governments about how to balance proportional representation with regional equity — a tension that will define one of the most consequential democratic exercises India could undertake in the coming years.