HM Amit Shah set to table Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill today

New Delhi  : Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal are set to present an amendment to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, during a special three-day Budget Session of Parliament beginning today .
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the session. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam aims to provide 33 percent reservation for women in legislative bodies and is tied to the delimitation process for the Lok Sabha. The government plans to implement this reservation before the 2029 General Elections by amending the 2023 Act and making a constitutional amendment to separate the delimitation process from the 2027 census. The proposal includes increasing the Lok Sabha’s total seats from 543 to 850, with 815 allocated for states and 35 for Union Territories. While Congress supports the women’s reservation, it opposes the proposed Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which is linked to the delimitation exercise. Congress held a strategy meeting to discuss the amendments, attended by key leaders from the INDIA bloc, who collectively decided to oppose the delimitation bill, arguing it undermines representation for southern and northeastern states. Opposition leaders have raised concerns that the proposed bill does not ensure proportional increases in Lok Sabha seats, potentially diminishing representation for southern states. Congress Rajya Sabha MP P. Chidambaram criticized the bill as a “mischievous and diabolical” move, asserting that while the number of seats may appear to increase, the actual representation for southern states would decrease significantly after delimitation. He emphasized that this change would disrupt the federal balance and called for opposition to the proposal.