Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 16: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday offered guarantees and pushed for all parties to “collectively” ensure support and passage of the women’s reservation bill while assuring that no state would be discriminated against claiming that his government “look at India as one, not in parts.”
Speaking on the first day of the three-day special session of Parliament, Mr Modi also rebuked the opposition with a jibe at the Congress as they protested against three contentious bills tabled while providing a “guarantee” that it would not lead to political benefit for a single group. He also cautioned the opposition that if anyone raised objection to the “Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam” (The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023) bill, the women would not “forgive” them.
The special session of Parliament’s Budget session began Thursday, and is due to run till Saturday. Three key bills – The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, The Delimitation Bill, 2026, The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 – have been introduced. The decision on these would be taken on Friday at 4 pm IST.
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday following Ms Priyanka Gandhi’s criticism of the delimitation excise which she feared could go against the southern states, said a narrative was being created that the representation of southern states in the Lok Sabha would decline after delimitation, but asserted that their strength would actually increase. According to him, the strength of southern states will go up to 195 in the Lower House.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the special Parliament session, Shah said, “A narrative is being created, and confusion is being spread that these three bills, the Constitutional Amendment Bill and the two related laws on delimitation and changes in election procedures, will reduce the representation of southern states in the Lok Sabha and cause them significant loss. The bill before the House is now the property of the House.”
Shah said the overall increase in seats would ensure that no state loses its existing representation in absolute terms. He emphasised that the exercise was aimed at maintaining fairness while accommodating population changes through an expanded Lok Sabha. “If we listen to the entire narrative created for the South, then out of the 543 seats created by you, 129 MPs currently sit in this House, which is approximately 23.76%. In the new House, 195 MPs will be sitting here, and their power will be 23.97%,” Shah said.
PM Modi said the passage of women’s reservation and delimitation bills would not be discriminatory in nature. “I want to say responsibly today that this will not discriminate against anyone. This decision process will not be unfair to anyone.” He added, “The government that was in power earlier, the delimitation of the seats, and the ratio that has been in place since then, will remain unchanged, and the ratio will remain the same…”
PM Modi, at the beginning of his speech, highlighted that the lawmakers were “about to give this country a new direction.” “All of us (lawmakers) should not let this opportunity. We are about to give the country a new direction. This is an effort to make our legislation more sensitive. In the 21st century, India is moving ahead with a new confidence. We can see India’s stature growing globally,” he said.
The Prime Minister stated that when he met different opposition groups, no one had objections regarding the principles of the bill. “If we meet in small groups, we all agree that this (women’s reservation) is a much-needed move. No party has objected in principle. But in the parliament, there is political opposition,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s guarantee followed repeated agitations by southern states who fear redrawing constituency boundaries would translate into losing parliamentary seats (and heft at the centre) to northern, Hindi-speaking states – like Uttar Pradesh – that are seen as BJP strongholds.
“The Opposition is spreading confusion regarding women’s reservation. The number of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies will increase by 50 per cent. The states’ proportional representation in the Lok Sabha will remain at its current level,” top government sources said. .
And responding to criticism of the bill to give women 33 per cent reservation in the expanded (by nearly 50 per cent) Lok Sabha, he said: Those who opposed this in the past… they were not forgiven by women of the country and they ended up badly in elections that followed.” “Let all of us not miss this important opportunity to give reservation to women,” he said, “I have come to appeal to you – do not see this from a political lens, this is in national interest.”
PM Modi said no one was “giving” the women of the country something, asserting instead that this was a “right” they had been denied. “We should not live in this illusion that we are giving the women of this country something. This is their right, that they have been denied for ages,” PM Modi said
The Prime Minister said he did want “credit” for the passage of the bill, adding that he was ready to “publish everyone’s photo.” “I give you a blank cheque for claiming credit on passage of women quota bill,” PM Modi said. “I don’t want credit. After this bill passes, tomorrow I will give a full-page ad with whosoever’s photo you want,” he added.
PM Modi said that the successful passage of women’s reservation would benefit the country’s democracy and decision-making. “This will be in favour of the country’s democracy, it will be in favour of the country’s collective decision-making, and we will all be entitled to the credit,” he said. “Neither the Treasury Department nor Modi will be its rightful owner, nor will everyone sitting here be its rightful owner,” the Prime Minister added.
Reservation for women lawmakers, he said, was something that should have been enforced 25-30 years ago. “(Had we) implemented it then, today we would have been a mature country.” A fiercely critical opposition has said proposals to redraw constituency boundaries and increase Lok Sabha seats are “flawed” – Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge called it “an assault on our democracy” – and had been bundled with the women’s bill to force it through parliament.
The delimitation exercise is a longstanding flashpoint between the centre and southern states, one that rears its head periodically and has done so again ahead of the election in Tamil Nadu this month. The southern state is a particularly vocal opponent of delimitation, arguing that it, like its neighbours, would be penalised for having successfully controlled population levels.
Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also spoke in the Parliament and took a jibe at PM Modi, saying that if he “really respected women, he would not use women for political gain.” “In 2018, Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to PM Modi, stating that the women’s reservation should be implemented by 2019. It seems to me that while the Prime Minister may make fun of Rahul ji here, but he does consider his words seriously later, because today we are discussing the same issue. From the Prime Minister’s speech today, it appeared as though the BJP has been the sole champion, proposer, and biggest supporter of women’s reservation. His entire speech reflected that, even though he said they do not seek credit for it. Any woman can tell you that women quickly recognise men who try to mislead them repeatedly,” she said.
Earlier, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi questioned Centre’s intention of increasing the women’s reservation in Lok Sabha by linking it with delimitation. He also took a dig at BJP, asking how did they come up with a number 850 as they intend to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats, asking if it came from Nagpur.
BJP’s MP from Bengaluru South Tejasvi Surya said the women’s reservation was close to being cleared only because of the BJP and the Narendra Modi government.
Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal proposed the introduction of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, and also moved the Delimitation Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin burnt a copy of the Delimitation bill to stage protest against the proposals. “Today, I have reignited that fire by burning the copy of this black law and hoisting the black flag against this black law that seeks to turn Tamils into refugees in our own land. This fire will now spread across the Dravidian land. It will rise, it will rage, and it will bring the BJP’s arrogance to its knees,” Stalin said in a statement.
The government has been seeking opposition support to pass the amendment bill, which aims to implement women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha from the 2029 general elections, based on the 2011 Census.
The Opposition parties on Wednesday said they fully support the early implementation of women’s reservation but voiced strong opposition to the Delimitation Bill. Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge chaired a meeting of opposition parties to discuss their position. “We are all in favour of the Women’s Reservation Bill, but the way in which they (the government) have brought it, we have reservations,” Kharge said. Karnataka has 28 seats, and 5.15 percent of the 543 seats in the House. After the passage of the bill, the number of Karnataka MPs will increase from 28 to 42, and the percentage in the Lok Sabha will increase to 5.44. Karnataka will not suffer any loss at all.
As per the southern state-wide details of seats given by Mr Shah, Andhra Pradesh has 25 seats, which is 4.60 percent. After the passage of the bill, the number of MPs will increase from 25 to 38, which will be 4.65 per cent. Telangana has 17 seats, which is 3.13 per cent. After the passage of the bill, the number of MPs will increase from 17 to 26, which will be 3.18 percent. Tamil Nadu has 39 seats, which is 7.18 per cent, after the passage of the bill, the number of MPs will be 59, and their percentage in the new House of 816 will be 7.23 per cent. Keralam has 20 seats, which is 3.68 per cent. After the passage of the bill, the number of MPs will be 30 and their percentage in the new House will be 3.67 per cent.
“As for Tamil Nadu, where many people have been expressing concerns, I want to assure the people of the state that your representation will not decrease; it will increase,” he added.
The Home Minister assured that the proposed delimitation bill was on the same lines as those brought by previous governments, dismissing concerns over any major changes in its framework. “I would like to say to Hon’ble Member Priyanka ji (Gandhi) that we have not made any changes to the Delimitation Commission Act. Not even a comma or full stop has been altered; we have retained the existing Delimitation Commission Act in its entirety. If you are saying that manipulation happened earlier, and you are now saying that it could happen again, then I can only say this: if the Act was misused in the past, we will not do so,” he said.
Shah further said there was a statement being made that elections were taking place in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and that a new Act has been brought in. Shah further said claims were being made linking the proposed law to ongoing elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, but clarified that such assertions are unfounded. “That is not correct. Let me clearly state that the Delimitation Commission’s report will come into effect only when it is accepted by Parliament and receives the approval of the President. Therefore, there is no question of it being implemented before 2029. Even the elections up to 2029 will be conducted under the existing system and existing constituencies. So there is no need for Akhilesh ji (Yadav) to be worried,” he added.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to mandate 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state/UT Assemblies was introduced in the Lower House on Thursday after a division of votes.
Two ordinary bills – the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill to implement the proposed amended women’s quota in the Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir – were also introduced in the House on Thursday.
According to the draft Constitution amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s quota law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
According to the current House strength, the NDA commands about 292 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. This is comfortably above the simple majority mark of 272 but falls short of the two-thirds majority required to pass a constitutional amendment bill. The opposition bloc holds around 232 seats and has said they will vote against the Bill. Opposition leaders have expressed confidence over having the numbers to defeat it.
