Bhubaneswar, January 13: The delimitation exercise is likely to reshape Odisha’s political map, with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi indicating an addition of around 50 Assembly seats, taking the total close to 200. Anticipating this expansion, the State Government is planning a future-ready Legislative Assembly building with a 300-member seating capacity, reflecting demographic growth and long-term institutional preparedness.
In Odisha, the number of Assembly seats has remained unchanged for last 52 years, Currently, the Legislative Assembly has 147 members and 21 Lok Sabha seats from the State in accordance with the 1971 census data, which was based on a population of 2.20 crore. Now, the population of Odisha stands at 4.70 crore.
Likewise, the number of voters has been increased two-fold based on which new constituencies will be shaped.
In 1974 elections, there were a total of 1.18 crore voters in the State against the 3.32 crore electors in the 2024 general elections which is three times high. The constituency-wise average voters were 80,000 in 1974 against the average voters of 2.26 lakh per constituency in 2024.
As far as number of voters is concerned, Bhubaneswar (North) constituency is the largest Assembly segment in the State with over 2.80 lakh electors while Baliguda in Kandhamal district is the smallest Assembly seat with 1.54 lakh voters.
Before Independence, the strength of the Assembly was 60. The seats were enhanced to 140 during the 1952 elections, first after the Independence. The seats were last enhanced to 147 in 1974 based on the 1971 census followed by delimitation carried out in 1973.
Though delimitation had been done on several occasions in 1956, 1963, 1973 and 2007-08 but there was no change in allocation of Assembly seats or Lok Sabha seats.
So, with the Census set to begin in April followed by delimitation and allocation of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies, the political landscape is poised to have take a new shape in the State.
The number of seats in the Lok Sabha in Odisha likely to increase from 21 to 28 while the number is likely to increase to 888 from 545 in the country. The seat revision was last carried out through the 31st Constitutional amendment of 1973 when the number of Lok Sabha seats increased from 524 to 545. A decision was taken in 1976 to freeze the Lok Sabha strength for the next 25 years.
The delimitation of constituencies for the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies is to be carried out on the basis of the first Census after 2026. The 2021 Census was originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a democratic country like India, the enhancement of Lok Sabha and State Assembly constituencies is intricately linked to population. As per the constitutional provision, delimitation exists to ensure proportional representation. It also ensures that every citizen's voice, regardless of geographic location, is fairly reflected in Parliament and the State Assemblies.
The process of delimiting Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in India follows the guidelines set by the Delimitation Act, 2002. The Election Commission of India (ECI) oversees this process.
