Meghwal, Shah Move To Introduce Bills In LS To Tweak Women’s Quota Law, Set Up Delimitation Panel

NEW DELHI, Apr 16: Union Ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Amit Shah on Thursday moved to introduce three Bills in the Lok Sabha to amend the women’s reservation law and establish a delimitation commission, triggering protests from the opposition, which termed the proposals unconstitutional.

The draft Constitution amendment Bill seeks to raise the strength of the Lok Sabha to a maximum of 850 seats from the current 543 to operationalise 33% reservation for women ahead of the 2029 general elections, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.

It also proposes increasing seats in state assemblies and Union Territory legislatures to accommodate the quota, with reserved seats for women to be allotted on a rotational basis across constituencies.

The move drew sharp reactions from opposition parties. Congress leader K C Venugopal questioned why these changes were not included when the women’s quota law was originally passed, calling the new Bills “anti-constitutional.”

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav supported women’s reservation but criticised the urgency behind the move, asking why the government was not prioritising a fresh Census.

Responding to the criticism, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Census is scheduled for 2027 and that the Centre has also decided to undertake caste enumeration, while reiterating that religion-based reservation is unconstitutional.

Opposition parties have also decided to jointly oppose the delimitation provisions in Parliament, while maintaining their support for reservation for women in legislative bodies. (Agencies)