Carrying the Assembly's resolution to the Centre, CM Vijay has asked the Prime Minister for constitutional amendments to fix the Lok Sabha permanently at 543 seats and bring in 33% women's reservation from the next general election.
Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging the Union government to bring in appropriate constitutional amendments for a permanent freeze on the strength of the Lok Sabha, the protection of existing levels of parliamentary representation, and the implementation of 33% women's reservation from the coming general election on the basis of the existing 543 seats.
The letter, sent on Thursday, formally conveys to the Prime Minister the deliberations of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on the proposed delimitation of parliamentary and Assembly constituencies and on women's reservation. Vijay noted that the resolution was passed by the Assembly on August 12.
Restating its substance, he wrote that the resolution sought the total membership of the House of the People to be fixed permanently at 543, and the existing number of seats allocated to the states to be made permanent at the current level. The Assembly had also urged that women receive the benefit of one-third seat reservation in the upcoming general elections to the Lok Sabha, and in subsequent general elections to the state Assemblies, while maintaining the current distribution of seats among the states.
The letter marks a shift in register. Until now, the government's delimitation campaign has been conducted within Tamil Nadu — the consultative meeting with alliance MPs on August 8, followed by the Assembly resolution four days later. Writing directly to the Prime Minister moves the demand into a bilateral exchange with the Centre, and places it alongside the concerns raised by other southern states.
The women's reservation element gives the letter additional leverage. The 106th Constitutional Amendment of 2023 provided for one-third reservation, but its implementation has been understood to follow a delimitation exercise conducted after a Census. By asking for the reservation to be applied on the existing 543 seats, Tamil Nadu is seeking to separate a measure with broad political support from a redistribution it opposes.
For background on the seat freeze, the constitutional amendments behind it and what the projections suggest, see our explainer on delimitation and Tamil Nadu.
Delimitation Prime Minister Modi 543 Seats Women's Reservation August 14, 2026