The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to tweak the women’s reservation law was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday (April 16, 2026) after a division of votes. Two ordinary bills, the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, were also introduced as the Parliament commenced a three-day special sitting. The Bill was tabled with 251 members supporting it and 185 members voting against the introduction. The voting on the passage of the Bills will be done at 4 p.m. on Friday (April 17, 2026).
Read more: Activists seek delinking of women’s reservation from Census, delimitation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech during the discussion in Lok Sabha on Thursday (April 16, 2026), urged the Opposition not to give a political colour to the government’s Bills aimed at expediting the implementation of 33% reservation for women in the Lower House and the State Assemblies. Allaying fears on delimitation, he assured that no injustice will be done to any State and also offered to provide a “blank cheque to take credit” for the move.
Also read: Implications of increasing the size of the Lok Sabha
The draft proposals envisage increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha to up to 850 seats from the present 543, following a delimitation exercise based on the last published census, while also expanding State Assemblies to accommodate reservation for women. The INDIA bloc parties took a unanimous decision to vote against the delimitation provisions in the Constitution (131st) Amendment Bill, 2026, stressing that the Opposition is not against reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
