The Lok Sabha on Friday rejected a bill seeking to fast-track the implementation of women’s reservation in legislatures without waiting for a fresh Census to conduct delimitation.
The bill was put to a division of votes, with 298 members voting in favour and 230 against falling short of the 326 votes the ruling National Democratic Alliance needed for passage. A total of 489 MPs participated in the voting. Following the defeat, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju withdrew the bill from the House, after which the Lok Sabha was adjourned until 11 am Saturday.
The bill had sought to bypass the requirement of a new Census as a prerequisite for delimitation a condition that has remained the central bottleneck in rolling out the women’s quota across legislatures.
The development unfolded during a special three-day sitting of Parliament, convened from April 16 to 18, to consider amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, commonly known as the Women’s Reservation Act. The law guarantees 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
The proposed amendments were aimed at enabling the implementation of the quota in time for the 2029 elections. They also proposed expanding Lok Sabha’s strength from the current 543 seats to 850, to operationalise the reservation framework ahead of the next general elections.
Under the plan, delimitation was to be carried out on the basis of the last published Census a move that drew sharp objections from the opposition. Several opposition parties opposed the amendments on the floor of Parliament and demanded the Centre withdraw them.