LS Seats to be Increased Up to 850 to Enable 33% Women’s Quota Before Polls

The bill circulating among the members of the Lok Sabha stated that the seats reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies “shall be allocated to different constituencies in a state or Union territory on a rotational basis”.

The bill aims to change Article 81 of the Constitution, among other provisions.

“The House of the People (Lok Sabha) shall consist of not more than 815 members elected by direct election from territorial constituencies in the states; and not more than 35 members elected in the manner prescribed by Parliament to represent the Union territories.”

Meanwhile, NDA sources clarified that the final number of seats will be determined by the Delimitation Commission, hence the bill does not specify an exact number of seats or a fixed percentage (like 50 percent).

The figure of 850 merely represents the upper limit for the total number of Lok Sabha seats.

Seat allocation will be based on proportional representation and southern states are likely to benefit from this formula.

The 2011 Census is used as a reference point.

Due to more effective population control in southern states, they may see a relative advantage in seat allocation compared to northern states where population growth is higher.

Expressing their skepticism, the opposition questioned the principle that was planned to be limited.

Two prominent non-BJP chief ministers from the south, MK Stalin and A Revanthy Reddy, on Tuesday sharpened their attacks on the Center over containment; The Tamil Nadu chief minister warned of “major agitation” if harm was done to the state and his Telangana counterpart flagged “injustice”.

Separately, the Congress said that where the intent behind a bill is malicious and its content is deceptive, the extent of damage to parliamentary democracy will be enormous.

The government will have to hold back-channel negotiations to approve the Constitutional amendment.

The sectarian committee bill and the bill providing for union territories with parliaments are ordinary bills that can be passed by simple majority.

Amending the Constitution requires a special majority in both Houses of Parliament: a majority of the total number of members (more than 50 percent) and a two-thirds majority of members present and voting.

While the total strength of NDA in the Lok Sabha is 292, the main opposition parties have 233 MPs.

According to the bill, the expression “population” means the population determined in the census “which the Parliament may determine by law”, the relevant figures of which are published.

As of now, 2011 Census figures are available. The 2027 Census application, which started on April 1, continues.

To expedite the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill, 2023, the government plans to introduce a Constitution amendment bill, a bill on delimitation law and a bill to enable implementation of the proposed law in Delhi, Jammu, Kashmir and Puducherry (three Union territories with legislatures) in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had this week said that amendments to ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ should be passed in three-day special sessions of Parliament from April 16 and that “any further delay would be unfortunate and would be a great injustice to the women of India”.

“Our democracy will become stronger and more vibrant if the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and various Assembly elections that year are held entirely with women’s reservation,” he said.

According to the aims and justifications of the draft constitutional amendment, “The next census and subsequent delimitation studies will take a lot of time and will therefore delay the effective and determined participation of women in democratic governance.

“Therefore, the purpose of the proposed bill is to operationalize one-third reservations for women, including women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in the House of People and the legislatures of the states, the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union territories, by exercise of delimitation based on the population figures of the last published census.” Reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies will end after 15 years from the enactment of the women’s reservation act, 2023, unless Parliament extends the period for “such additional period as it may prescribe in this behalf”.

In September 2023, Parliament took a significant step towards increasing women’s representation in legislatures by passing the ‘Women Reservation Bill’, commonly known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.

The law ensured that one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures be reserved for women.

The amendments to the Women Reservation Bill, once enacted, will increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to 816, of which 273 will be reserved for women.

The provision to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was introduced through the amendment to the Constitution in 2023.

Under current law, reservation for women would not become applicable until 2034 as this was contingent on completion of the restriction exercise after the 2027 Census.

Amendments were needed in Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam to implement this from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. That’s why the government is holding a special session to pass changes to the law.