Lok Sabha today resumed discussion on the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The three bills are intended to increase the participation of women in the Lok Sabha and the assemblies of States and Union Territories. Voting on the three bills is scheduled to take place this afternoon.
Participating in the debate, DMK MP K Kanimozhi opposed the bills saying it is shocking that Centre notified the women’s reservation law, passed in 2023, last night. She questioned the need for this move when a discussion was taking place on the Women’s Reservation in Parliament. Ms Kanimozhi alleged that the government has introduced the three bills in this special sitting in order to disrupt the ongoing elections in Tamil Nadu and other states. She claimed that these bills are disguised as if they are in support of women’s reservation but are actually against the Indian federal structure. She asked why the Delimitation Bill is not being placed in the Tamil Nadu legislature if the government is confident that the Delimitation Bill is fair.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said today, the nation stands at the threshold of a near-unanimous political consensus in favour of women’s reservation. He expressed concern that the implementation of women’s reservation has been tethered to the expansion of Parliament and to numbers from the 2011 Census and an exercise of delimitation. The discussion is underway.
