Indian Government Reintroduces Bill to Increase Women's Representation in Legislatures

The Centre has renewed efforts to secure parliamentary approval for a Constitution Amendment Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures from 2029 and increase the Lok Sabha's strength to 816 through a fresh delimitation exercise, reaching out to the Congress and NDA allies after a similar attempt failed four months ago. As part of the outreach, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday met Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for nearly 50 minutes to discuss the possible reintroduction of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill. Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Gaurav Gogoi and KC Venugopal later joined the meeting. According to sources, Rijiju did not receive any commitment from the Congress. The government is also expected to consult other opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and the DMK leadership, to assess support for the proposed legislation. The Bill seeks to operationalise the women's reservation law before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections by increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816 after a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census. It also proposes increasing the strength of state and Union Territory assemblies to accommodate the 33 per cent quota for women. Sources said the government is considering reintroducing the Bill next week, with changes aimed at addressing concerns raised by southern states over the impact of delimitation. The Monsoon session is scheduled to conclude on August 13.