-Home Minister Amit Shah and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal Introduce Key Bills on Women’s Quota, Delimitation
New Delhi : During a special session of Parliament on Thursday, the Union government introduced three significant pieces of legislation aimed at operationalising the Women’s Reservation framework. These include the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill, 2026; the Delimitation Bill, 2026; and the Union Territories Amendment Bill, 2026.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal tabled the first two bills, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the third. The government intends to roll out the reservation for women before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
A key feature of the proposed framework, linked to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, ties the implementation of women’s reservation to the delimitation exercise and the preceding census. The Centre is planning to rely on data from the 2011 census to redraw constituency boundaries and ensure one-third reservation for women in legislatures.
Of the three bills, two are Constitutional Amendment Bills, requiring a two-thirds majority of members present and voting in Parliament. The Delimitation Bill, however, seeks to establish a commission to redefine constituency boundaries.
The numbers present a challenge for the ruling NDA. In the Lok Sabha, where the effective strength is 541, the two-thirds majority mark stands at 360, while the NDA holds 293 seats—67 short of the requirement. In the Rajya Sabha, the alliance has 142 members against the required 163, leaving a gap of 21 seats.
While opposition parties have broadly supported the idea of women’s reservation, they have opposed the government’s decision to link its implementation with delimitation. They argue that using the 2011 census for redrawing constituencies could disproportionately benefit the ruling alliance, setting the stage for a potential political confrontation in both Houses of Parliament.