Parliament seats may be increased to 816 for 1/3rd women's reservation

NEW DELHI: Govt is looking to introduce at least two bills - including constitutional amendments - in the current session of Parliament to roll out reservation for women of one-third seats in the next Lok Sabha poll and assembly elections to be held after it. The move promises to change the country's political landscape and put an authoritative stamp on PM Modi's much-touted agenda of women's empowerment as the campaign for four state assemblies gathers pace.

If govt has its way, then the number of seats in LS will rise by 50% to 816 from the existing 543, with the 273-seat increase set aside for women, ensuring that the existing political dynamics and incumbent parliamentarians, overwhelmingly male, are not cut loose as a reshaped order takes hold. The majority mark will, accordingly, move to 409.




The strength of LS will increase for the first time in over five decades. The strength of Rajya Sabha and legislative councils in states will not be affected.

At least two bills, one on delimitation and another for an amendment in the Constitution, which needs two-thirds support in both Houses, will be brought.

Although the governing NDA does not have the strength to secure the passage of the bill on its own, govt seems keen to push for its passage during the budget session concluding on April 4. Failing that, it is open to the idea of convening a short session specifically for women's quota.

Home minister Amit Shah is leading the effort to get support for the two bills and held two meetings on Monday, one with regional parties from the non-NDA bloc, including opposition parties and those unaligned to either formation (NDA or INDIA blocs), and another with BJP's allies.

The women's quota law, piloted by the Modi govt in 2023, had linked the implementation in legislatures to delimitation that is to be conducted after the completion of the Census, which is about to get under way.

Delimitation plan likely to see 50% rise in seats across states

People in the know said Shah emphasised govt's inclination to delink the existing law's provision for implementing the quota following delimitation to be held after the upcoming Census and launching instead a fresh delimitation based on 2011 census, the last enumeration exercise.

The proposal to rely on Census 2011 is meant to ensure that women's quota is rolled out by the 2029 LS polls, as the release of the upcoming Census data may take some time, leaving inadequate time for completion of a nationwide delimitation exercise. "We were told that the govt is keen to roll out the quota from elections to be held after March 31, 2029. If its desire to build a consensus takes a few more days, then the budget session may be extended or even summoned after adjournment for a few days," said a person aware of the developments. States like UP and Bihar will see their Lok Sabha constituencies go up to 120 and 60 from the current 80 and 40, respectively, and those in Kerala will rise to 30 from 20.

In states with odd numbers (TN has 39), the delimitation commission will work out the details but the jump will be of similar proportion.

Govt believes that the proposal to maintain the proportional strength of each state/UT in LS by increasing their share by 50% addresses the concerns of the southern states, which have apprehended a fall in their representational strength in Parliament due to their successful attempts for population control compared to northern states. The reserved seats for SC/STs will also be covered under similar provisions. The current LS has 84 seats for SCs and the number is expected to go up to 126, while the constituencies reserved for STs may rise to 70 from 47. Some UTs and states with one or two LS seats will have their constituency reserved for women every third election, while reserved seats for women will stay for three terms before being put in open category.

While 22 MPs representing different parties attended the NDA meeting, representatives of Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), BJD and YSR Congress were among those who were part of another meeting with Shah. Some opposition parties, including Congress and the Left, have pushed for an all-party meeting. TMC - which has often cited Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's promotion of women in the party's representation in Parliament and assembly compared to others to stress on its pro-women tilt - also skipped the meeting. Parties like Congress and SP have pushed for OBC quota within the women's quota.

While the NDA enjoys a majority in LS and RS, it will require support from other parties for reaching the two-thirds mark.

The women's reservation bill was passed at a special session of Parliament in Sept 2023. Govt had hailed the Constitution (One hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act as "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam".

However, several opposition MPs and women's rights group had then criticised govt for basing the quota on delimitation after the new Census, as it made the Act's implementation in 2029 uncertain.
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