Women's Reservation Bill to be passed, govt allays opposition fears

Union Minister Annpurna Devi asserted the Women's Reservation Bill will pass in the Lok Sabha, stating the PM and Home Minister have clarified opposition doubts on delimitation and its implementation from the 2029 polls.

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annpurna Devi on Thursday said the Women's Reservation Bill will "certainly be passed" in the Lok Sabha, adding that the Prime Minister and Home Minister had addressed opposition concerns. Further, she stated that doubts raised by the opposition were clarified by the government. While speaking to ANI, Devi said, "Yesterday there was a very meaningful discussion; all members expressed their respective views. Wherever the opposition had any doubts, the Prime Minister very clearly stated that there was no need to have any doubts. The Home Minister has explained it to them with percentages... Now there should be no doubts. Today, the reservation bill will certainly be passed."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier sought to allay apprehension of opposition parties over the delimitation of constituencies and the "proportionate increase" in the strength of the Lok Sabha to implement the Women's Reservation Act from the 2029 polls.

Details of the Legislation

Lok Sabha is continuing its discussion and vote on the passage of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, which provides 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and State Assemblies, along with the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) bill, 2026 extending it to Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, and the Delimitation Bill, which is set to increase and redraw Lok Sabha constituencies, increasing them to 850.

Lok Sabha Vote and Passage

Earlier on Thursday, the Lok Sabha held a marathon 12-hour session to discuss the amendments to the women's reservation bill, which removes the need to implement the bill only after the census is conducted. As per the final division, there were a total of 251 AYES and 185 NOES out of the total 333 votes. With the 251 AYES majority, all three Bills, including the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026, were introduced in the Lok Sabha.

Concerns Over Delimitation Process

Delimitation, the process of redrawing and rearranging the constituencies, typically happens every 10 years following the completion of the Census, as is detailed in Article 82 and clause (3) of Article 170 of the Constitution. In 2001, the Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act, 2001, froze the allocation of seats to the House of People and legislative assembly on the basis of the 1971 census, and only allowed delimitation post the 2026 census.

Opposition MPs raised concern over the constitutional amendment to conduct the delimitation and increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to 850, based on the 2011 census. The opposition alleged that the proposed legislation would shrink the representation of southern states in the House. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)