The government on Tuesday proposed to increase seats in Lok Sabha to 850 – 815 in states and 35 in Union Territories, according to a government circular accessed by News 18.
The bill, reportedly has been shared with the MPs, and it will be introduced in the upcoming special session of Parliament starting April 16. The government, separately, will also introduce amendments that would enable 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies before 2029, instead of the current timeline linked to post-2027 Census delimitation.
As per Constitution, at present there can be 530 seats from states and 20 from UTs. However, a delimitation commission had set total seats at 543. The govt, reportedly has circulated the Constitution (131) amendment Bill with MPs.
Recently, the Union Cabinet is learnt to have cleared a Bill seeking to amend the Constitution for early implementation of 33 per cent quota for women in Lok Sabha and Assemblies as well as increasing the number of seats in the Lower House to 816.
According to several media reports, opposition is likely to object to the present proposal of delimitation where seats in Lok Sabha and Assemblies are increased by 50% and linking it with the early implementation of 33% of women’s quota when the government brings the bills in the special session of Parliament slated from April 16-18.
The opposition is projecting the government move as pushing delimitation under the guise of women’s bill. It has also questioned the “sudden” move, saying the government had earlier rejected the Opposition demand for women’s quota implementation in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls itself.
The Bill, aimed at amending the Constitution, needs two-third majority and the government is short of votes to clear it and would need the Opposition support. However, the Bill does not propose quota-within-quota for OBC women, another sticking point.
