The government is working to introduce a bill delinking reservation of seats for women in legislatures from the census and the so-called delimitation process, with an amendment to the effect likely to be introduced, perhaps as early as this weekend, people familiar with the matter said. The move could see the number of seats in the Lok Sabha increase to 816, one of the people cited above added on condition of anonymity (ANI)

The move could see the number of seats in the Lok Sabha increase to 816, one of the people cited above added on condition of anonymity. Of this, 273 will be reserved for women, and the proportional representation of each state will remain the same.

Since several Opposition parties had suggested immediate implementation of the law, at the time of its passing in 2023, it is likely that the government’s proposed amendment will find broad-based support.

The 816 number is close to the 814.5 one that can be arrived at by increasing the number of seats in the Lok Sabha, currently at 543, by a third.

Proportional representation means, for instance, that Uttar Pradesh, with 80 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha (14.73%), will have 120 seats in the new Lok Sabha; and Tamil Nadu, with 39 seats (7.18%), will have 59.

A leader of an NDA ally said the government had informed them that a delimitation commission will be set up by June to carry out the process of redrawing constituencies before the implementation of the reservation in 2029 in the Lok Sabha.

The delimitation exercise was due in 2026 and was to be done on the basis of the 2021 census (which was never done). It was widely expected that the exercise, which ensures the number of representatives sent to the Lok Sabha by a province, roughly reflects its population, would be carried out after the 2027 census. The southern states were up in arms against the plan because it would effectively penalise them for successfully controlling their population -- the national imperative through the 1970s, 80s, and 90s -- and reward outliers such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

To be sure, it isn’t clear how the government plans to address the imbalance if its plan on the women’s quota goes through -- for it would mean that a vote in Tamil Nadu, or Kerala, for that matter, would carry more weightage than a vote in Uttar Pradesh.

Discussions with Opposition The government has begun reaching out to opposition parties to build consensus on the amendment which is expected to be introduced before the session winds up on April 2, the people cited in the first instance said. The decision to have the session continue through the coming weekend, citing pending business, they added, may have been prompted by this.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday met floor leaders of other parties and all NDA partners to discuss the issue, HT learns.

According to a second person, the minister met leaders of the BJD, YSRCP, NCP (SCP) , Shiv Sena (UT), and AIMIM to discuss the provisions of the amendment.

ALSO READ | Govt considering lottery system, delinking women’s quota from census, delimitation

The government is considering delinking the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, also known as the Women’s Reservation Act from the earlier laid down condition that required carrying out delimitation on the basis of the 2021 Census.

“We were given to understand that the total number of seats reserved for women will be decided on the basis of a lottery…. every third seat is likely to be for women. There was no discussion on whether these seats will be fixed or reserved for women on a rotational basis,” said the first person.

A third person said the proportional representation of states in the Lok Sabha will be constant. And that a third of the seats currently reserved for scheduled castes and tribes will be earmarked for women from these communities. “There are many castes to be taken into account so the caste census will not be used to identify these reserved seats,” this person added.

Explaining the logic of not waiting for the census, this person said that since the exercise “will continue (till 2029) waiting for its finalisation would have delayed it (reservation) that’s why it’s being done now.”

A fourth person admitted that while discussions on the amendment are on, there has been no decision on introducing it this week.

“It will either be introduced now or the house will go into a recess and then congregate again for this amendment…” the person said.

An opposition lawmaker said at a meeting chaired by Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge it has been decided that the opposition will push for an all party meeting to discuss the issue. “The issue of whether to support or not will arise only after we know what the government has proposed,” the opposition lawmaker said.

Responding to the opposition’s demand for a detailed note on the proposed amendment, a government functionary said, “Our intention is to build consensus and we are open to holding discussions.” To be sure, the government will need to get the opposition parties on board and the proposed amendment will require a two-thirds majority.

If the amendment is passed then the 2027 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand could see a third of the seats in the enlarged state assemblies being reserved for women. Using the same formula, the number of seats in the Uttar Pradesh assembly would increase from 403 to 605, and in the Uttarakhand assembly, from 70 to 105.

HT had earlier reported that the government is exploring a lottery system to decide the one third of the constituencies that should be reserved for women.

The act seeks to reserve 33% of the seats for women in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies. Several opposition parties including the Congress, the TMC and the DMK have earlier suggested delinking the reservation process from delimitation and census. The women reservation bill was passed in September 2023 in a special session. It was the first legislation passed in the new Parliament building.

The delimitation process was frozen (in 2002) until after the first census conducted after the year 2026.