Women’s reservation from 2029, delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies – Why Parliament is set for big face-off today

The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026 are scheduled to be introduced by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, while the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 will be introduced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

New Delhi: Parliament is set to witness a high-stakes political debate today (April 16) as the government prepares to introduce three major bills, including one to implement women's reservation from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and another to redraw parliamentary constituencies. The decision has drawn sharp criticism from Opposition parties, which support women's reservation but oppose proposed delimitation of constituencies.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026 are scheduled to be introduced by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, while the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 will be introduced by Home Minister Amit Shah.

The government is also expected to move a proposal in the Lok Sabha to suspend Rule 66 to enable the women's reservation amendment and the delimitation bill to be taken up together.

The motion states that the House "do suspend the proviso to rule 66 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha in its application to the motions for taking into consideration and passing of the Delimitation Bill, 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 in as much as these are dependent upon the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, 2026".

Government push for women's reservation from 2029

The government has been seeking Opposition’s support to implement women's reservation from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections based on the 2011 census.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Opposition parties to support the amendment, saying the measure represents the aspirations of women across the country.

"This is the wish of every sister and daughter of this country, and we must fulfil it with unanimity," Modi said at an event in Dehradun on April 14.

Opposition parties have said they support women's reservation but raised concerns about linking it to the delimitation exercise.

Opposition backs reservation, opposes delimitation

Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge chaired a meeting of Opposition parties to discuss their position.

"We are all in favour of the Women's Reservation Bill, but the way in which they (the government) have brought it, we have got reservations," he said.

"We all have decided that we will continue supporting women's reservation as we did in 2010 and in 2023, as we unanimously accepted the constitutional amendment," he added.

Kharge said Opposition parties want immediate implementation of the Women's Reservation Act and voiced concerns over the delimitation proposal. He also raised questions about how delimitation was carried out earlier in Assam and Jammu and Kashmir.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said there was unanimous agreement among Opposition parties to oppose the proposed delimitation.

He said women's reservation should be implemented from the 2029 elections based on the present Lok Sabha strength of 543 seats and added that there was enough time to complete the process.

He also criticised linking women's reservation with delimitation and described the delimitation proposal as "dangerous". He said BJP leaders had spoken about increasing seats for all states but there was no such provision in the proposed bill.

He added that the share of several states, including those in South India, North-West India, South-West India and East India, could decline.

Leaders from parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the National Conference (NC), the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Left parties, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) attended the meeting.

BJP accuses Opposition of politicising bills

BJP leader Anurag Thakur accused Opposition parties of politicising the issue.

"I express my gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his commitment to the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Act’, so that Indian women can have their rights. This demand has been raised for a long time, but was unfulfilled. The Congress, which ruled for many years and even recently from 2004 to 2014, only made promises. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi failed to fulfil them. But Narendra Modi has delivered on his promises. This is the Bharatiya Janata Party's commitment to women's empowerment. All the NDA constituents have stood together with full force," he said.

"Last time, it was passed unanimously, but this time, the Congress and other Opposition parties are politicising it. They are once again trying to prevent women from getting their rights. They are finding one excuse after another. The truth is that the Congress and other parties do not seem to be in favour of women's empowerment. But no matter what, women must get their rights. Since becoming prime minister, Modi has ensured justice for women," he added.

Thakur also accused the Congress of "always tending to divide the country, sometimes based on caste and religion, sometimes based on region". He said seats will not be reduced for any state.

"Even today, some Congress allies make the argument that the seats in southern states will be reduced. We want to say with great responsibility that no one's rights, no one's seats are being reduced, rather justice is being done to everyone," he said.

Rahul Gandhi flags 'gerrymandering' concerns

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi criticised the delimitation bill and raised concerns about potential political impact.

"One of the BJP's dangerous plans is to 'gerrymander' all Lok Sabha seats to its advantage for the 2029 elections The proposed bills remove all Constitutional safeguards on delimitation, giving full power to the Delimitation Commission, which the government itself will appoint and direct. We have seen how BJP does this, it hijacked delimitation in Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, where it split up anti-BJP regions and communities for electoral advantage," he said in a post on X.

"As a result, some seats have 25 lakh voters, while some have only 8 lakh; some seats have 12 Vidhan Sabha segments, while some have only 6; some seats are broken into pieces without connection, sometimes divided by rivers or mountains. Having captured the Election Commission, PM Modi is confident that he can capture the Delimitation Commission too. The Congress will not allow this to happen," he added.

Gandhi said delimitation should be based on a transparent framework developed after wider consultations.

"Indians of all communities and states should feel confident that they will be represented and their voices will be heard," he said.

Opposition calls proposal 'anti-national'

Congress leader KC Venugopal described the proposal as an "anti-national act".

"The delimitation amendment is an anti-national act that denies access to political power to women from dalit, adivasi and OBC communities, and threatens to break India's federal structure. Southern, north eastern and smaller states will see a massive shrinking of their political representation through this, and it will lead to catastrophic consequences for our Constitutional democracy," he said on X.

"We demand that the latest caste census be used for delimitation and that no state is disadvantaged by this process. We reject this Bill in its current form," he added.

The Delimitation Bill proposes readjustment of Lok Sabha seats across states and union territories, along with changes to assembly constituencies. The proposal also includes redrawing boundaries for parliamentary and legislative assembly constituencies.

With the government pushing for passage during the special sitting and Opposition parties preparing to resist the delimitation proposal, Parliament is set for a heated debate over women's reservation and the future structure of Lok Sabha representation.