RAS question
The delimitation of parliamentary constituencies was frozen until 2026 by which Constitutional Amendment?
Correct answer: (A) 84th Amendment, 2001.
The 84th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2001 extended the freeze on the delimitation and seat allocation framework for parliamentary constituencies until the first Census after 2026.
Explanation
The answer is the 84th Amendment, 2001. The earlier 42nd Amendment had frozen the allocation of seats on the basis of the 1971 Census until 2001. The ECI's delimitation guidelines state that the Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act, 2001 and the Constitution (Eighty-seventh Amendment) Act, 2003 amended the relevant constitutional provisions, with the result that the House of the People seats allocated to States on the basis of the 1971 Census would remain unchanged until the first Census after 2026. Constituencies were to be redelimited on the basis of the 2001 Census, while the extent of constituencies would also remain frozen until the first Census after 2026.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) The 97th Amendment dealt with cooperative societies, not with extending the parliamentary delimitation freeze to the first Census after 2026.
- (C) The 42nd Amendment created the earlier freeze based on the 1971 Census only until 2001, so it does not answer the 2026 extension asked here.
- (D) The 91st Amendment dealt with anti-defection law changes, not with delimitation or the 2026 freeze on parliamentary constituencies.
Concept
This tests the constitutional mechanism of delimitation, especially the balance between population-based representation and a freeze on seat allocation. It recurs in RAS because delimitation links Parliament, Census data, federal representation and reservation of constituencies.