Lok Sabha seats in southern states to increase from 129 to 195; up by 50%: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday asserted that the Lok Sabha seats in five southern states will go up to 195 from the present 129, an increase of 50 per cent, when the total seats in the Lower House will be enhanced to 816, saying a false narrative is being spread to float misleading information.

Intervening in the debate in Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendment of the women's quota law and to set up a delimitation commission, Shah also said the proposed women's reservation will be implemented only in 2029 and till then all polls will be conducted under the present system.

He said the number of Lok Sabha seats in the five southern states will go up from the present 129 to 195 seats while the percentage of power will increase from 23.76 per cent to 23.87 or almost 24 per cent.

"Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka will increase to 42 from the present 28; in Andhra Pradesh, the number of Lok Sabha sets will increase to 38 from 25; in Telangana, it will be 26 from present 17; in Tamil Nadu, the number of Lok Sabha seats will go up to 59 from the present 39; and in Kerala, it will be 30 seats from the present 20," he said.

According to the bill, the Lok Sabha seats will go up to a maximum of 850 but Shah explained that it was a rounded figure and the seats will remain at 816.

Explaining how the total number of seats in the new Lok Sabha is fixed at 816, the home minister said it is exactly 50 per cent more than the existing number of seats.

Shah strongly rejected the opposition's suggestion that the government will indulge in some kind of "mischief" during the delimitation exercise, saying the NDA government has not made any changes in the existing law.

"The delimitation bill is exactly like the previous law brought by your government. There is no change, not even a comma or a full stop," he said.

The home minister made it clear that all elections till 2029 parliamentary polls, including 2027 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, will be conducted under the present system as the women's reservation will be applicable only in 2029.

"Akhilesh ji, (SP chief Akhilesh Yadav) you don't need to worry even though you are not going to win the elections in Uttar Pradesh," he said.

He also rejected the suggestion that the women's reservation bill has been brought up eyeing the next week's West Bengal elections.

The home minister also said the Samajwadi Party members were saying that they would place the demand for a caste census but he would like to inform them that the government had already taken a decision to carry out the caste census and it would be carried out along with the population enumeration.

"Right now, the counting of households is underway and the households do not have any caste. If the Samajwadi Party had its way, it would determine the caste of households as well," he said.

The Lok Sabha on Thursday took up the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Delimitation Bill, 2026, for debate and passage.

According to the proposal, the strength of the Lok Sabha will be increased from the present 543 to 816, of which 272 seats will be reserved for women -- a total of 33 per cent.