Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday said in Lok Sabha that seats in all states will be increased by 50 per cent. The Law Minister also added that the total Lok Sabha seats will rise to 815, of which 272 will be reserved for women.
The Law Minister’s remarks come at a time when the Center introduced three major bills in the Lok Sabha today during special sessions. These bills focus on reservation for women in Parliament, demarcation of boundaries and laws for union territories. Track the latest developments in the parliament session
The House of Representatives will hold an extraordinary session during the next three days. This special session comes as an extension of the budget session that concluded on April 2.
The Constitutional Amendment Bill and Delimitation Bill were introduced by Law Minister Meghwal while Union Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah introduced the Union Territories Act Amendment Bill.
Moreover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to address the Lok Sabha at 3 pm on Thursday. The speech, if confirmed, comes at a time when the senior BJP leader is pressing for opposition support for women’s reservation and demarcation bills.
Uproar over the Women’s Reservation and Boundaries Bill
The NDA-led government supported the women’s quota and demarcation bill, noting that women had waited years before making reservations.
While the Women’s Reservation Bill 2023 was passed unanimously, the government has not implemented it. The amendment in the bill will focus on implementing the quota for women in Parliament as well as determining and reviewing Lok Sabha seats on the basis of the 2011 census.
When it comes to the Women’s Bill, the Opposition expressed its support, but raised doubts about the Centre’s rush for the bill, saying that if the government pursues the bill in this manner, it would undermine India’s federal and democratic structure.
Meanwhile, the southern states strongly opposed the demarcation bill, stating that if the seats were revised, they would lose seats in the Lok Sabha due to the implementation of population control measures from the 1970s to the 1990s.
