UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Delimitation — a case of to be or not to be

Q1. In the context of the Indian Constitution, the term 'delimitation' most precisely refers to which one of the following?

  • A. The act of fixing the number of seats and the boundaries of territorial constituencies, ordinarily on the basis of the latest census
  • B. The delegation of the power to make subordinate legislation to the Election Commission
  • C. The demarcation of India's international land boundaries with neighbouring countries
  • D. The reorganisation of States and Union Territories under Article 3

Q2. Under the Delimitation Bill, 2026, the power to constitute the Delimitation Commission and to appoint its Chairperson is vested in which one of the following?

  • A. The Central Government
  • B. The Election Commission of India
  • C. The President, on the advice of the Chief Justice of India
  • D. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha

Q3. The freeze on the total number of Lok Sabha seats allotted to each State was last extended, until the first census taken after 2026, by which one of the following?

  • A. The Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act, 2002
  • B. The Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976
  • C. The Delimitation Act, 2002
  • D. The Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act, 2003

Q4. As matters stand today, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats among the States is based primarily on the figures of which Census?

  • A. 1971 Census
  • B. 2001 Census
  • C. 2011 Census
  • D. 1991 Census

Q5. The three Delimitation-related Bills introduced in the Lok Sabha in April 2026 were piloted by which one of the following Union Ministries?

  • A. Ministry of Law and Justice
  • B. Ministry of Home Affairs
  • C. Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
  • D. Ministry of Women and Child Development

Q6. Of the three Delimitation-related Bills of 2026, the defeat of which single Bill rendered the other two infructuous?

  • A. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026
  • B. The Delimitation Bill, 2026
  • C. The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026
  • D. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill

Q7. Under the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (106th Amendment Act, 2023), the one-third reservation of Lok Sabha seats for women is to be actually operationalised through an exercise carried out by which one of the following?

  • A. A Delimitation Commission
  • B. The National Commission for Women
  • C. The Ministry of Women and Child Development
  • D. The Election Commission's routine revision of electoral rolls

Q8. The 2026 delimitation proposal drew strong objection from several southern States chiefly because it sought to base the readjustment of Lok Sabha seats on the figures of which Census?

  • A. 2011 Census
  • B. 2021 Census
  • C. 1971 Census
  • D. 2001 Census

Q9. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 proposed to raise the maximum permissible strength of the Lok Sabha to which one of the following figures?

  • A. 850
  • B. 848
  • C. 753
  • D. 543

Q10. In the 2022 delimitation of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which one of the following was provided for the first time?

  • A. Reservation of Assembly constituencies for the Scheduled Tribes
  • B. Reservation of Assembly constituencies for the Scheduled Castes
  • C. An equal number of Assembly segments in each Parliamentary Constituency
  • D. Division of seats between the Jammu and Kashmir regions