Pressing for urgency, the government has rejected the Indian National Congress proposal to hold an all-party meeting on the Women’s Reservation Act after the ongoing Assembly election campaign for four States and a Union Territory ends on April 29, arguing that any delay would jeopardise the legislation’s implementation before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
The Centre has proposed that the delimitation exercise essential for operationalising the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Constitution 106th Amendment Act, 2023) be carried out on the basis of the 2011 Census rather than waiting for the ongoing enumeration. It has also proposed delinking population as the criterion for determining a State’s representation in the Lok Sabha, and instead suggested a 50% increase in the number of seats across the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. The Women’s Reservation Act, when implemented, will reserve 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women.
On Thursday (March 26, 2026), Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge insisting that timely implementation of the Act is a shared responsibility of all political parties. Waiting for the Assembly polls to conclude, he said, would push back the timeline, as the process involves multiple, time-consuming steps. Any delay, he cautioned, would make it impossible to enforce the Act before the 2029 general elections.
