Overview
- On Saturday Supriya Sule said the NCP (SP) would consider supporting a revived delimitation bill only if it guarantees a flat 50% increase in Lok Sabha seats in every state and she stressed the party has not taken a formal decision or received the bill text.
- The Centre's earlier attempt to expand the Lok Sabha and enable 33% women's reservation failed on April 17 because a constitutional amendment needed a two‑thirds majority and fell short of the 352‑vote threshold.
- Government sources say passing delimitation and the women's quota remains a year‑end priority, and party defections since April — including most TMC MPs and the DMK leaving the INDIA bloc — have changed the arithmetic the government must now manage.
- Sule argued smaller constituencies would improve representation, citing Baramati's voter growth and saying the fixed Rs 5 crore MPLAD fund is inadequate for very large electorates.
- Opposition leaders warn the move could be used for gerrymandering while internal NCP factional splits and merger speculation add uncertainty about which allies the government can secure before the deadline.