A significant proposal is taking shape in the corridors of Parliament. The government wants to expand the Lok Sabha to 816 seats (up from 543) and use that expansion to finally put the women’s reservation law into action.
Home Minister Amit Shah reportedly pitched the idea at a Monday meeting with Opposition leaders in the Parliament building. The plan would reserve roughly 270 of those 816 seats for women fulfilling a key promise of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, passed in September 2023.
Shah reportedly met leaders of the BJD, YSRCP, NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT) and AIMIM. He is expected to separately hold talks with Congress, TMC, DMK and the Samajwadi Party. Reports have emerged of an all-party meeting could be called as early as Tuesday, with a decision on the changes to follow.
The proposal ties delimitation to the 2011 Census, not the ongoing one. This is a deliberate move. Waiting for the current Census to conclude would push implementation to 2029. Shah reportedly told Opposition leaders the government did not want that delay.
The 2011 Census baseline also addresses a major concern of southern states. These states have feared that fresh delimitation based on updated population numbers would cost them seats since their populations have grown more slowly than northern states. Under this plan, each state’s proportional share of seats would stay the same.
Only the total number would rise, with Vidhan Sabha seats also going up by around 50%.
According to reports, Shah also proposed reserving seats for women within the SC and ST quota categories. Parties like the Samajwadi Party and RJD, along with several backward community leaders, have been pushing for exactly this.
On the contentious question of caste enumeration, Shah indicated that the results of the ongoing caste census would not feed into the delimitation exercise. He pointed out that there are around 81 lakh caste groups in the country, making a comprehensive exercise nearly impossible.
A lottery system to decide which seats in each state go to women was also floated at the meeting, according to an MP who was present. Whether reserved seats would be fixed or rotate each election was not discussed, he told a section of the media.
To make all this work, the government would need to amend the women’s reservation Act itself, which currently links the quota to the Census and delimitation, as well as the Delimitation Commission Act. A Delimitation Commission could be formed by June, based on the 2011 Census. Sources said the government may extend the current session or call a special session for this purpose.
Not everyone was at the table. Congress, the Left parties, TMC, AAP and DMK reportedly stayed away. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called a separate meeting of INDIA bloc allies, where they decided to seek a detailed report from the government before engaging further.
Officials in the known that BJP’s top leadership has already held discussions with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on the proposal.
The government’s stated goal is to have the expanded House and the women’s quota both in place before the 2029 general elections.
Also Read: Gujarat: Should House Demolitions Lead To SIR Deletions? Civil Society Activists Say ‘They Are’ https://www.vibesofindia.com/gujarat-should-house-demolitions-lead-to-sir-deletions-civil-society-activists-say-they-are/
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