The Parliament is all set to witness a story session on Thursday, as the three-day special sitting begins. As many as three key bills will be tabled in this special sitting, which aim to redraw constituencies, expand the strength of the Lok Sabha and operationalise women's reservation.
The flashpoint is the delimitation, which the opposition argues that will reduce the representation of the southern states in the Parliament and could disproportionately benefit northern states. The opposition, including Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, have called this 'dangerous', criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government.
What are the three bills to be tabled?
The three bills that will be tabled are Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which will be tabled by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, will pave the way for redrawing the constituencies and redistribution of seats using the 2011 Census instead of the 1971 Census.
The Delimitation Bill, 2026, which will also introduced by Meghwal, calls for a fresh delimitation exercise, which will expand the Lok Sabha's strength from 543 to around 850. Meanwhile, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 will be tabled by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, which aims to align legal and administrative provisions with the proposed changes.
Together, all these bills will synchronise delimitation, expand Lok Sabha's strength and operationalise women's reservation.
Women's reservation
The Women's Reservation Act or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam aims at providing 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Though it was passed in 2023, its implementation is linked to delimitation.
According to the draft Constitution amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census. Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
The seats reserved for women in Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies “shall be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a state or Union territory,” the draft bill circulated among Lok Sabha members said.
Opposition's protest vs Centre's clarification
The opposition led by Congress has decided to oppose the delimitation bill. Although it has clarified that it is not against women's reservation, it has raised objection against the delimitation process, saying it is against southern states. It has said that delimitation should not be linked to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
However, the Centre has clarified that delimitation will be carried out after consulting each and every party. "There will be a delimitation committee for every state, and it will talk to all parties, then only a call will be taken. So why is the fear? You have a fear about SIR, Election Commission, Parliament. You have a fear about every law which is passed. Whereas you don't do anything here," said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday.
