Live Updates Live No loss to Tamil Nadu, Lok Sabha seats will only increase: Amit Shah
“The provision of 33 per cent reservation in panchayats and municipalities was first introduced in the House by the Indian National Congress government under the leadership of the late Rajiv Gandhi. Congress supports women’s reservation but this debate is not on that; the bills smell of politics,” she said.
Congress General Secretary and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra trained her guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his speech on the Women’s Reservation Bill was incomplete and provided no information. “BJP claims to champion women’s reservation, but history tells a different story,” she began her speech among cheers from Opposition leaders. “The PM’s speech did not mention a word in the Constitution amendment Bill on process for increasing the number of seats in Lok Sabha,” she said on the delimitation issue.
Speaking further, KC Venugopal took a swipe at PM Modi, mentioning Indira Gandhi, India’s first woman prime minister, saying she had demonstrated strong leadership. He also acknowledged that the Congress had earlier passed the Bill in only one House, but questioned the government’s inaction over the past nine years.
Congress senior leader KC Venugopal alleged that the Central government is not bothered about the development of women as it claims to be but its only agenda is to win elections. “Please withdraw this Bill. We are willing to support the Bill within the existing parliamentary framework,” he said in Lok Sabha, dismissing Modi’s statements as political theatrics.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant expressed concern over linking the delimitation issue with the Women’s Reservation Bill and criticised its timing when Assembly elections are ongoing in five states.
The Prime Minister also assured members that the strength of the House would be increased to ensure no sitting MP suffers a loss due to reservation. He emphasised that the new Parliament building has the capacity to accommodate the expanded strength. Calling for unanimity, Modi said the bill should not be viewed through a political lens, stressing that women—who constitute half the country’s population—deserve adequate representation in legislative bodies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his speech urging members not to delay and pass the legislation unanimously. “You can’t deceive women now. You have stalled it for three decades but achieved nothing. So, do it now,” he said in the Lok Sabha. He also the government was not interested in claiming credit for the move. “You help pass the bill and take the credit. I am ready to issue advertisements with all your photos. Consider it a blank cheque,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the Opposition not to give a political colour to the government’s bills for implementation of the women’s reservation law and cautioned that they should be mindful that those who had opposed this in the past had suffered badly in elections. “I have come to appeal to you that do not see this from a political lens, this is a decision in national interest,” Modi said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged MPs not to miss the “important opportunity” to grant reservation to women, as he strongly pitched for the women’s quota bill in the Lok Sabha. “Those who oppose the women’s quota bill will pay a price for a long time.” He added that women voters in the country have historically not forgiven those who resisted such measures.
PM Modi speaks in Parliament during the special three-day session on women’s reservation and delimitation
Akhilesh Yadav said the government was attempting to redraw the country’s electoral map through delimitation in a manner that suited it politically. He said a census should be conducted first, arguing that reservation must be based on population data. “Do they not count Muslim women in half of the population?” he asked, demanding that Muslim and OBC women be included in the reservation framework. Source ↗(opens in new tab)
Speaking during the special sitting of Parliament, Akhilesh Yadav said the Samajwadi Party supported women’s reservation and had always worked for women’s progress. “We are in favour of 33 per cent reservation for women. The BJP is trying to make ‘Nari’ a slogan,” he said, questioning the ruling party’s commitment to women’s empowerment and asking how many women held positions within the party.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Parliament complex, where he is scheduled to speak in the Lok Sabha on the discussion of the three key Bills. Before him Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is expected to speak.
Tejasvi Surya, continuing his remarks in the Lok Sabha, said that if delimitation were carried out solely on the basis of the 2011 Census, Tamil Nadu would not receive 59 seats as mentioned in the Bill, while Andhra Pradesh would get 27 seats. He said the share of southern states in the overall allocation currently stood at 23.7 per cent and would continue.
“Delimitation is not a backdoor exercise. We are purely following what the Constitution mandates,” says BJP leader Tejasvi Surya, while responding to Gaurav Gogoi. Surya said that if Lok Sabha seats remain frozen and women’s reservation is implemented in the current structure, the principle under Article 81 of “One Person, One Vote, One Value” would be defeated.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tejasvi Surya said that over the past three days, the Opposition had carried out a systematic campaign of misinformation in southern India on the issue of delimitation. “I come from the south, from Karnataka,” he said, responding to remarks made earlier by Gaurav Gogoi. Surya added that delimitation was not a “backdoor exercise” and said the government was only following what the Constitution mandates.
Gaurav Gogoi said the timing of the Bills suggested the Centre was opposed to conducting a caste census. “Today you are saying women’s reservation must come before caste census. You are bulldozing delimitation to bring about one-third reservation,” he said. Gogoi added that the decision to undertake a caste census came after sustained pressure from the Opposition, led by Rahul Gandhi.
Opening the discussion for the Opposition, Gaurav Gogoi said the government had raised the issue of women’s reservation in 2023 as well, and questioned why it was now being presented as a fresh and historic move. “We are in favour of women’s reservation. But we want it to be simplified and not linked with delimitation. Implement reservation on the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats,” he said. He alleged that linking the two issues would delay implementation, adding that had the Opposition’s suggestions been accepted in 2023, women’s reservation could have come into force in 2024.
Neither men nor any state will suffer any loss after implementation of women quota, says Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the special session, Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the number of seats allotted to all states would be increased by 50 per cent. He said the total strength of the Lok Sabha would rise to 815 seats, of which 272 would be reserved for women.
Kiren Rijiju proposed dedicating 12 hours for debate on the three Bills, saying the discussion could continue longer with the Speaker’s permission if required. Voting on the three Bills will take place at 4 pm on Friday. Om Birla said the debate time could be extended to 18 hours if needed, adding that adequate time had been given to all parties to participate in the discussion.
Responding to the Opposition, Amit Shah said when a constitutional amendment is involved, the voting process differs from that of an ordinary law amendment. “After the Bill on the constitutional amendment, to take women’s reservation to its logical end, we need the other two Bills. Hence, they have been introduced together,” he said, adding that the discussion centred on the same subject. Shah said similar instances had occurred many times in the past, and took a swipe at the Opposition, saying they had “come decided to oppose everything.”
The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 has been introduced in Lok Sabha after voting.
Voting finishes. As many as 207 MPs vote for the Bill, 126 MPs vote against it. Votal voted is 333.
Om Birla takes vote for women’s reservation bill. Voting underway.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi says bills violate federal structure of Constitution
DMK members dressed in black clothes in Lok Sabha to protest amendments to women reservation law.
Revolutionary Socialist Party’s (RSP) NK Premchandran opposes women quota law amendment in Lok Sabha, saying it is not meant for reservation but delimitation. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) TR Baalu tells Lok Sabha that the paryt favour the 2023 women quota law, but present bill aims at delimitation.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduces key Bills in the Lok Sabha to amend the women’s reservation framework and set up a Delimitation Commission, a significant step towards implementing the proposed quota. The legislation seeks to operationalise provisions of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, including changes related to seat allocation and constituency delimitation. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also introduced a separate Bill to extend the amended women’s reservation law to Union Territories, including Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. The move comes as the government pushes to roll out 33% reservation for women in legislatures, alongside a broader delimitation exercise, amid opposition concerns over representation and seat redistribution. Shah said reservation based on religion is unconstitutional.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday, April 16, began the Lok Sabha session, leading by paying tributes to singer Asha Bhosle, who passed away at 92 due to multi-organ failure at a Mumbai hospital on April 12. Source ↗(opens in new tab)
A three-day special sitting of the extended Budget session of Parliament began on Thursday, April 16, with discussions centred on proposed constitutional amendments linked to the implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
Earlier this week, the Central government shared with MPs the text of the Constitution (131 Amendment) Bill, 2026 or the proposed amendment to the Women Reservation Bill, which aims to raise Lok Sabha seats to 850 — including members from States and Union Territories.
The Bill proposes a cap of 815 on the number of members chosen by direct election from constituencies in the States. For UTs, the Bill says, “Not more than 35 members to represent the Union Territories, chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law provide”.
At present, there are 530 Lok Sabha members from States and 20 from UTs. However, a delimitation commission had set the number at 543. Another key amendment proposed in the Bill is the definition of population, giving Parliament the mandate to decide which data is to be made the foundation for the expansion of the number of seats.
