The Women’s Reservation Bill, which has remained unimplemented for years despite being passed, is set to come before Parliament once again, with the central government having begun preparations to this effect. The Centre has renewed its efforts to get this bill — which seeks to provide 33% reservation for women in legislative bodies — passed in Parliament ahead of the general elections scheduled for 2029. At the same time, the government is also set to reintroduce the proposal to increase the number of Lok Sabha constituencies in the country from 543 to 816.
To this end, the central government has initiated consultations with the main opposition party, Congress. As is known, the opposition has been persistently protesting, demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah come to Parliament and respond on issues such as the NEET leak, the crackdown on students, and related cases. Against this backdrop, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju met with Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for about an hour on Wednesday. Congress senior leader Priyanka Gandhi also took part in this meeting. Rijiju reportedly appealed to them to extend cooperation in getting the bills passed.
Congress leaders, in turn, made it clear to Rijiju that Union Home Minister Amit Shah must make a statement in Parliament on the violence against students who had agitated in Delhi demanding the resignation of the Education Minister over responsibility for the NEET leak, and also insisted that a discussion be held on the alleged theft of donations in Ayodhya. They pressed for complete clarity on these issues. As a result, with the main opposition offering no assurances on the constituency delimitation and Women’s Reservation bills, Rijiju had to return without securing commitments. Notably, this was the second meeting between Rijiju and Rahul Gandhi on the delimitation issue in the last ten days.
On the matter of increasing the number of constituencies, the government is also planning to hold discussions with leaders of the Samajwadi Party and the DMK, both key parties in Parliament. Since passage of a constitutional amendment bill requires the support of two-thirds of members, talks with these parties have become essential. Amid objections being raised over the current draft of the amendment bill, the Centre is reportedly attempting to incorporate a new proposal into the bill that would allow seats in every state to be increased by up to 50%, irrespective of population. During previous special sessions, the government was unable to muster the two-thirds majority needed to pass these bills. However, following key developments since then, the strength of the ruling coalition has grown compared to before. As a result, the Centre is determined to get the bill passed this time around. Meanwhile, the Monsoon Session of Parliament is set to conclude on the 13th of this month, and there is reportedly no possibility of convening another special session for these bills. This means the bills will need to be passed during the current session itself.