NEW DELHI: In a renewed push for the women’s quota bill, the Congress on Tuesday demanded that the government convene an all-party meeting to discuss how the law can be implemented with the existing strength of the Lok Sabha from 2029 onwards.
The government’s push to pass the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 to advance the women’s quota was defeated in the Lok Sabha earlier this month, as it failed to secure the two-thirds majority as the Constitution Amendment Bill required 352 votes in the House of 528 members. While 298 members voted in support of the bill, 230 MPs voted against it.
Taking aim at the government, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that it is now time for PM Narendra Modi to make amends for “using India’s women” to drive through his personal political agenda.
In a post on ‘X’, Ramesh said that now that the poll campaign is over and his “mischievous” move to ram through a “diabolical” delimitation of the Lok Sabha has failed because of Opposition unity, it is time for the PM to do what the Opposition has been consistently demanding since mid-March 2026.
“An all-party meet should be convened to discuss how the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, (that was finally notified in panic only in the late hours of April 16, 2026) can be put into effect with the existing strength of the LS from 2029 onwards. It is possible. It is desirable. It is essential,” he wrote.
Women’s quota was never the issue during the special session of Parliament, he claimed. “The agenda was only a delimitation for the PM’s political preservation. It is time for the PM to make amends,” he said.
The Opposition has alleged that the government wanted to push delimitation in the garb of women’s reservation issue. The Congress has also demanded that the Centre immediately implement the women’s quota on the existing Lok Sabha strength by bringing a bill in monsoon session or earlier.
The bill proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 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 were also to be increased in state assemblies and Union territories to accommodate 33% reservation for women.