Raipur: With delimitation back at the centre of national politics, a discussion has opened in Chhattisgarh over raising the size of its assembly. The state currently has 90 seats; a proposal under discussion would increase that by up to 50 per cent, taking the total to 135. If the women's reservation law applies, 45 of those seats — a third — could be reserved for women.
The women's reservation law reserves about one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. If Chhattisgarh's assembly reaches 135 seats, that arithmetic yields 45 reserved seats, a change that would reshape candidate selection and alliances for the BJP, the Congress and others.
Sushil Trivedi, a former member of the Delimitation Commission, urged caution. He said a 50 per cent increase in assembly seats was being discussed, along with using the 2011 Census as the basis, but warned that no conclusion should be drawn before the bill's provisions are finalised and the legislative process completed. Which census is used, and by what formula seats are added, would decide the outcome, he said.
Under the constitutional provisions on women's reservation, the quota is tied to a delimitation carried out after census data is published. Adding seats alone does not automatically trigger it — legal conditions must be met. For now, the 90-to-135 figure and the 45 reserved seats remain a projected calculation, not a decision.
Chhattisgarh already has the highest share of women MLAs in the country, at about 21 per cent of its 90-member House. In the 2023 election, the BJP fielded 15 women and the Congress 18. If the quota applies, every party would have to field far more women, reshaping candidate selection.