Union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Amit Shah on Thursday moved to introduce three bills in the Lok Sabha to amend the women’s quota law and set up a delimitation commission, as opposition termed the proposed legislations "anti-constitutional" and an "attack on the Indian federal structure."
Lok Sabha cleared the introduction of the Delimitation bill (131st Constitutional Amendment) Bill, 2026 — to expand its strength from 543 to 850 — after a 207–126 vote, and introduced a bill to amend the women’s quota law (106th Amendment Act, 2023) following a 251–185 vote.
Following the introduction of the bills, LS Speaker Om Birla sanctioned a 15–18 hour debate on the three bills, with voting scheduled for 4 pm on Friday.
Congress MP KC Venugopal questioned why proposed changes in the women's quota law were not incorporated when it was earlier passed by Parliament. "Bills to tweak the women's quota law and set up a delimitation panel are anti-constitutional," he said.
"This bill is a fundamental attack on the Indian federal structure. What exactly is the intention of this bill? The parliament passed the bill in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, ensuring 33% reservation of women," Venugopal added.
In a swift response, Union Home Minister Amit Shah hit back, claiming that Venugopal could not question the merits of the Bills at the stage of introduction and was limited only to raising technical objections.
Shah further said that the government would give a "strong reply" to the Opposition during the debate.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav questioned the rush to introduce the bills. “We are in favour… but why do you not want a Census to be conducted?” he asked, while party MP Dharmendra Yadav questioned the move to delink delimitation from the Census and called for women from minority communities and backward classes to be accommodated in the quota for Parliament.
Shah hit back, saying the Census 2027 is on and the Centre has also decided to go for caste enumeration, but reservation based on religion is "unconstitutional."
Opposing the bills introduced by the Centre, DMK’s TR Baalu said in the Lok Sabha, "We favour the 2023 women’s quota law, but the present bill is aimed at delimitation." DMK members were dressed in black clothes in LS to protest amendments to women reservation law.
Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin hoisted a black flag and burnt a copy of the proposed Delimitation Bill, intensifying his protest against the Centre’s move to table the legislation in Parliament.
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 reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
The seats reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies "shall be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a state or Union territory", the draft bill circulated among Lok Sabha members said.
Several opposition parties on Wednesday decided to unitedly vote against the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament, while asserting that they are not against reservation for women in legislative bodies.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI)