UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — The stakes in India’s delimitation debate

Q1. The allocation of Lok Sabha seats among the States, and the total number of seats in each State Legislative Assembly, were first frozen at 1971 Census levels by which one of the following?

  • A. The Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978
  • B. The Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976
  • C. The Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act, 2001
  • D. The Constitution (Eighty-seventh Amendment) Act, 2003

Q2. In the delimitation debate, the expression 'the freeze' that has operated since 1976 refers precisely to a bar on altering which one of the following?

  • A. The number of seats allotted to each State in the Lok Sabha and the total seats in each State Legislative Assembly
  • B. The territorial boundaries of every parliamentary and assembly constituency, which could not be redrawn while it lasted
  • C. The number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies
  • D. The maximum number of electors that any single parliamentary constituency in a State was permitted to contain

Q3. As the Constitution stood immediately before the Bills of April 2026, the bar on readjusting the allocation of Lok Sabha seats among the States was to operate until which one of the following?

  • A. Until the year 2000, after which Parliament had to renew it every ten years by ordinary law
  • B. Until the completion of the Census of 2026, after which no State's seat share may ever be altered
  • C. Until the publication of the relevant figures of the first Census taken after the year 2026
  • D. Permanently, so that seat allocation among States can never be revised without an entirely new Constitution

Q4. Consider the following statements comparing the constitutional amendments that shaped the last delimitation exercise: 1. The 84th Amendment Act, 2001 extended the freeze on the number of seats allotted to each State while permitting the redrawing of constituency boundaries within the existing seat numbers. 2. The 87th Amendment Act, 2003 directed that this redrawing of constituency boundaries be carried out on the basis of the 2001 Census figures instead of the 1991 Census figures. 3. The Delimitation Commission constituted in 2002 finalised its orders in 2004, before the 2001 Census figures were published. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The 84th Amendment Act, 2001 extended the freeze on the number of seats allotted to each State while permitting the redrawing of constituency boundaries within the existing seat numbers.
  2. The 87th Amendment Act, 2003 directed that this redrawing of constituency boundaries be carried out on the basis of the 2001 Census figures instead of the 1991 Census figures.
  3. The Delimitation Commission constituted in 2002 finalised its orders in 2004, before the 2001 Census figures were published.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q5. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which proposed raising the maximum strength of the Lok Sabha, was brought before Parliament by which one of the following Ministries?

  • A. The Ministry of Home Affairs
  • B. The Ministry of Law and Justice
  • C. The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
  • D. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

Q6. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 fell in the Lok Sabha in April 2026 because it could not secure which one of the following?

  • A. A majority of the total membership of the House and two-thirds of the members present and voting
  • B. The unanimous consent of all members present and voting, which every amendment touching the States must obtain
  • C. Prior ratification by the Legislatures of not less than one-half of the States before introduction in Parliament
  • D. A three-fourths majority of the total membership of both Houses sitting together in a joint session

Q7. The stipulation that the ratio between the number of Lok Sabha seats allotted to a State and its population shall, so far as practicable, be the same for all States is contained in which one of the following?

  • A. Article 81
  • B. Article 82
  • C. Article 170
  • D. Article 330

Q8. With reference to the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, consider the following bodies in which one-third of seats is to be reserved for women: 1. The House of the People 2. The Legislative Assembly of a State 3. The Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi 4. The Council of States, and the Legislative Councils of States where they exist Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. The House of the People
  2. The Legislative Assembly of a State
  3. The Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi
  4. The Council of States, and the Legislative Councils of States where they exist
  • A. 1 and 4
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q9. The clause providing that the reservation of seats for women shall cease to have effect on the expiration of fifteen years from the commencement of the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023 is placed in which one of the following Articles?

  • A. Article 330A
  • B. Article 332A
  • C. Article 239AA
  • D. Article 334A

Q10. Consider the following statements about the positions taken by southern States on population-based delimitation: 1. The all-party meeting convened in Tamil Nadu resolved to seek an assurance that delimitation, if undertaken, be based on the 1971 Census population for a further period of thirty years. 2. Telangana's Chief Minister proposed a 'hybrid model' under which one-half of the additional seats would be allocated proportionately. 3. The Tamil Nadu resolution demanded that no delimitation exercise of any kind ever be undertaken again in any State of the Union. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The all-party meeting convened in Tamil Nadu resolved to seek an assurance that delimitation, if undertaken, be based on the 1971 Census population for a further period of thirty years.
  2. Telangana's Chief Minister proposed a 'hybrid model' under which one-half of the additional seats would be allocated proportionately.
  3. The Tamil Nadu resolution demanded that no delimitation exercise of any kind ever be undertaken again in any State of the Union.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q11. Which one of the following correctly describes the body that actually carried out the redrawing of parliamentary and assembly constituencies under the Delimitation Act, 2002?

  • A. A three-member body of the Election Commission of India alone, headed by the Chief Election Commissioner, each of whose orders required the prior approval of Parliament
  • B. A permanent constitutional body under Article 82, headed by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, whose every decision binds all States without exception
  • C. A three-member body headed by a serving or former Supreme Court Judge, with the Chief Election Commissioner's nominee and the State Election Commissioner as members
  • D. A body composed entirely of ten associate members drawn from Members of Parliament of the State concerned, all of whom exercise the right to vote on its orders