The Union government had passed the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan’ law in September 2023 to provide 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. With implementation linked to a fresh Census and facing hurdles for a 2029 rollout, the Centre decided to move ahead using the 2011 Census as the basis.
To enable this, the government introduced the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill during a recent special session of the Lok Sabha. As a constitutional amendment, it required support from two-thirds of the total membership—353 MPs—but received backing from only 298, leading to the bill’s defeat.
The defeat has been attributed to the opposition uniting against the bill after it was linked with delimitation and the Census. During the parliamentary debate, opposition parties argued that delimitation could increase Lok Sabha seats in a way that disproportionately benefits high-population northern states while reducing the relative weight of southern states.
The opposition also said the proposed increase in seats—cited as a 50% rise—could disadvantage states that have controlled population growth and widen disparities in constituency numbers between states. They further contended that the bill did not clearly spell out the impact of the planned delimitation, which contributed to the outcome.
The article notes that while women’s reservation has broadly enjoyed political consensus, its implementation has been delayed for years. It argues that tying it to delimitation has sharpened a north–south divide and says the Centre should learn from the setback by engaging with opposition views to find an amicable solution.
