Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Thursday (August 13, 2026) wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, enclosing a copy of the resolution moved by him and adopted by the Assembly on August 12, urging the Centre to bring an amendment to the Constitution to freeze the number of Lok Sabha seats at 543 and retain the current proportion of inter-State distribution of seats.

In his letter, a copy of which released to the media., Mr. Vijay brought to the attention of the Prime Minister the deliberations of the Assembly on August 12 on the issue of the proposed delimitation of parliamentary and Assembly constituencies and the implementation of 33% reservation for women.

He said the Tamil Nadu Assembly had adopted a resolution urging the Union government to make constitutional amendments for a permanent freeze on the strength of the Lok Sabha, maintain the current proportional distribution of seats among the States and the Union Territories, and retain the Lok Sabha-Rajya Sabha seat ratio at the current 2.2:1.

The resolution also called for the implementation of 33% reservation for women from the ensuing Lok Sabha election on the basis of the existing strength of 543 seats and in the subsequent elections to the Assemblies, Mr. Vijay pointed out.

He said the resolution had been passed against the backdrop of the proposed constitutional amendment relating to delimitation and the determination of the number and distribution of seats in the Lok Sabha on the basis of population.

The Assembly noted that after Population Census, the Southern States might lose a significant number of parliamentary seats if Article 81(2)(a) was applied, as had happened in 1967 when the number of Lok Sabha seats was reduced from 41 to 39 in Tamil Nadu, he said.

Any delimitation, based on the post-1971 population, that altered the existing strength would cause a lasting injustice to the Southern States, which had efficiently implemented population-control programmes, achieved good economic growth, and carried out proper healthcare and public welfare schemes, the Chief Minister added.

Published - August 13, 2026 09:49 pm IST