Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) could back the Modi government if it decides to introduce the Delimitation Bill again in the Parliament but has laid down three conditions for it, said party sources on Friday.
Demand 1: The DMK wants a freeze on seats based on the 1971 Census, which is set to end in 2027. According to DMK sources, the party wants this freeze to be extended by another 25 years through a constitutional amendment.
Demand 2: Stalin's party has demanded that there should be a 50 per cent blanket increase in Lok Sabha seats for all states, which was verbally assured by Union Home Minister Amit Shah when the legislation was introduced in the Lower House back in April.
Demand 3: Other than these two conditions, the DMK also wants the Centre to publish the complete list of revised Lok Sabha constituencies of all states along with the new legislation.
If the Centre decides to accept these three conditions, then the DMK is ready to support the Delimitation Bill, party sources have informed India TV. However, a final call regarding this will only be taken by the party leadership only after examining the final draft of the bill and all its provisions.
So far, DMK has vehemently opposed the Delimitation Bill, describing it against the interests of states, particularly those of the south. However, ever since its alliance ended with Congress after the grand old party formed a coalition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the aftermath of the 2026 assembly elections, speculations are rife that Stalin's party could support the legislation.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is seeking a two-thirds majority for the Delimitation Bill's passage, which would increase the Lok Sabha seats to 816 from 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law.
When the bill was previously introduced in April, it received 298 votes, with four members of Jaganmohan Reddy's YSRCP, one member of the Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM), and one independent MP backing it. However, it would require 360 votes for passage if all 540 members are present in the House while voting.
As of now, the NDA has 319 members in the Lok Sabha after seven Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs merged with the Eknath Shinde faction and with the support of 20 legislators of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) or the rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders. The DMK has 22 Lok Sabha members, and their support would increase the NDA's strength to 341.
It is widely speculated that the NCP(SP), with eight MPs, could also back the bill, though there is no clarification on this yet. And if the YSRCP and the ZPM back the bill again, the NDA's strength would rise to 354 (minus the Speaker).
Earlier, speculations were also made that the Centre could convey a special session from August 16 to 18 for the Delimitation Bill. However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju rejected it. "There is no proposal to have any special session from August 16 to 18 on women's reservation and delimitation bills," he told news agency PTI.
The Parliament Monsoon Session will conclude on August 13.
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