The government is considering a special session of Parliament to pass the Delimitation Bill, 2026. According to officials, this bill aims to implement the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023. The government claims it has enough support to pass the bill, though no dates have been shared yet.
To pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, the government needs at least 361 votes in a house of 543 members with three current vacancies. A previous attempt to pass this bill failed during a special session in April.
The proposed changes include increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to up to 850 based on the 2011 Census. This would allow for 33% reservation for women in Parliament and State Assemblies.
The government previously tried to convince southern states by offering a 50% increase in Lok Sabha seats based on the 1971 Census, but this was not included in the April bill. Now, there are talks of revisiting this proposal.
Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh has criticized the move, calling it “bluster.” He accused Home Minister Amit Shah of failing to pass the bill in April and questioned his ability to succeed now.