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4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Apr 9, 2026 02:29 AM IST
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the proposed Constitutional amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam and a Delimitation Bill to fast-track 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas by using 2011 Census data, sources told The Indian Express.
According to sources, there will be multiple Bills to make the long-pending reservation a reality by delinking it from the yet-to-be completed Census exercise and using the 2011 data instead.
The Delimitation Bill, which is learnt to propose an increase of 50% in the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, was also cleared by Cabinet. A separate Bill will be moved to implement this move in Union Territories.
In the Lok Sabha, the strength would increase by 50% only by the next general elections in 2029.
The Bills will be brought to Parliament during the special session convened for later this month. The Parliament’s Budget Session has been adjourned to meet again on April 16, and is expected to sit until April 18 to consider and pass these Bills.
Sources said the Government did not make a public announcement about the Cabinet decision as significant policy decisions are not announced outside while the Parliament is in session.
The proposal aims to increase Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816 so that 273 seats can be reserved for women, sources said.
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If the proposal is to be implemented, Constitutional provisions limiting the strength of the Lok Sabha to 550 and the assemblies to 500 also need to be amended. For the Lok Sabha, changes will have to be made to Article 81 and for the Assemblies to Article 170.
Given the proposal, the strength of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, for instance, will increase to over 600 from the present 403. A Delimitation Commission is also expected to be set up by June to decide the demarcation of constituencies based on 2011 Census data.
It is learnt that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had met a few Opposition leaders during the Budget session to discuss the proposal. In the meeting, Shah is learnt to have conveyed that the Government wants to bring the amendment Bill without waiting for the Census exercise to be completed as it would take a long time.
He is learnt to have conveyed that a Constitution amendment would expedite the rolling out of women’s reservation — a demand many Opposition parties had made during the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in September 2023. Sources said leaders of BJD, YSRCP, NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT) and AIMIM had attended the meeting.
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Although the Government had invited leaders of all Opposition parties for discussions, the Congress, DMK, TMC and the Left parties were among those that stayed away while demanding an all-party meeting after April 29, once the ongoing Assembly polls are over.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, after a meeting of Opposition parties barring TMC, had also written to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju that the Government should circulate a note detailing the proposals.
With the Government proposing that the proportion of seats of states would remain the same, the fears of southern states would be addressed, sources said. The southern states have been apprehensive about a seat increase that is proportional to the population after the ongoing Census and the consequent delimitation.
Many Opposition parties, including the Congress, DMK and TMC, had raised this issue, too, during the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in September 2023.
