Composition of the Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha is the directly elected House of the Parliament of India. Article 81 prescribes its elected composition, the allocation of seats among the States and Union territories, and the principle for forming territorial constituencies.

Maximum composition and election

• The House may contain not more than 530 members directly elected from territorial constituencies in the States.
• Not more than 20 members may represent the Union territories, chosen in the manner prescribed by Parliament through law.
• Thus, Article 81 permits a maximum elected strength of 550 members.

Allocation among States and constituencies

The provision seeks broad equality in the value of representation while accommodating differences among States.

• Seats are allocated to each State so that, as far as practicable, the ratio between its population and allotted seats is the same for all States.
• This interstate uniformity rule does not apply to a State whose population does not exceed six million.
• Each State is divided into territorial constituencies so that the population-seat ratio is, as far as practicable, the same throughout that State.

Population basis and delimitation freeze

For Article 81, population means the population recorded in the last preceding census whose relevant figures have been published.

• Until figures from the first census conducted after 2026 are published, interstate allocation of seats continues to use the 1971 Census.
• For readjusting territorial constituencies within States, the corresponding reference remains the 2001 Census during this period.

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