The government has begun reaching out to opposition parties to reach a consensus on separating the Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhinyam Act or the Constitution (Amendment) Act 128, which reserves one-third of seats for women in national and state legislatures, from the condition that it comes into force after demarcation of boundaries and census. The amendment is expected to be presented during the ongoing budget session in Parliament, which ends on April 2.
On Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met leaders of the Biju Janata Dal, YSR Congress Party, Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar, Shiv Sena (UT) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to discuss the proposed amendment, people familiar with the matter said.
If the amendment is passed, the process of reserving seats for women will begin before the 2027 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Hizb ut-Tahrir reported this month that it was being explored whether a lottery system could be introduced to determine which third of electoral districts could be reserved for women.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, have proposed separating the reservation process from delimitation and census. They demanded implementation of the law from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questioned the government’s intention and claimed that the delay in implementing reservation was against its purpose.
The Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhinyam Act was passed in Parliament in September 2023 during a special session. This was the first legislation to be passed in the new Parliament building.
The delimitation process has been frozen until after the census, which will begin in April and will be conducted digitally in two phases – the household list and population census (2027).
