LS to Consider Delimitation Bill, Amendments to Women Reservation Bill for Passing

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha will continue discussions and begin voting on key legislative proposals, including the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026 on Friday.

While the Constitution Amendment Bill aims to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and State Assemblies, the Union Territories Bill proposes to extend this provision to Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir. The Delimitation Bill aims to increase the total number of seats to 850 by increasing and reshuffling the Lok Sabha constituencies.

According to the Lok Sabha’s backlog, all three bills will be discussed together. Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are expected to move a motion to accept the amendments.

The Lok Sabha on Thursday held a marathon 12-hour debate on amendments to the Women’s Reservation Bill, which proposes to remove the requirement that the quota should be implemented only after the census. The bills were introduced following a vote in which 251 members supported the measures and 185 opposed them.

Many leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, as well as opposition figures such as Akhilesh Yadav, Asaduddin Owaisi and KC Venugopal, attended the debate.

The Congress has called on the government to withdraw the bill in its current form and hold an all-party meeting to build consensus. Party leader KC Venugopal argued that the government was trying to force the restriction by amending the Women’s Discrimination Act.

Opposition leaders, including Owaisi, have also expressed concerns that the proposed changes could reduce the opposition’s representation in Parliament.

Leaders of southern states, including DMK and Congress MPs, have expressed concerns that the delimitation could disproportionately affect southern regions such as Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala.

Responding to these concerns, Amit Shah assured the House of Representatives that the southern states would see an increase of almost 50 per cent in the number of seats and their overall share would not fall.

The developments come at a time when the special session of Parliament is focusing on major structural reforms with potential long-term implications for political representation in India.