New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah spared no effort in Parliament on Thursday to convince the angry Opposition about the women’s reservation bill and delimitation process.
Claiming that the southern states, especially Tamil Nadu, are spinning a false narrative on delimitation, Shah said data shows that even the south will gain after delimitation.
The total number of Lok Sabha seats has been proposed to be expanded from 543 to 850, with all states gaining.
According to Shah, Lok Sabha seats in the five southern states will go up from 129 to 195, while the percentage of power will increase from 23.76 per cent to 23.87 per cent.
Giving examples, Shah said Tamil Nadu will get 20 more seats, Kerala 10, Telangana 9 and Andhra Pradesh 13 seats.
“They asked where the figure of 850 came from. I will explain it. This figure of 850 is derived in the following way: Hypothetically, if there are 100 seats and 33 per cent reservation is to be given to women, then increasing the total seats by 50 per cent makes it 150. And when the reservation is applied as 33 per cent of 150, it automatically comes back to 100 seats,” Shah said on the first day of the debate in Parliament.
“So, with 543 members currently sitting, there will be a 50 per cent increase, and when 33 per cent is reserved for mothers, then all 543 seats will be open where women can also contest. So this 50 per cent has come about in this way. And 850 is a round figure — 816 will be the exact number. They will ask again why this was done — even now — the round figure is not 543, it is more than 543,” Shah added.
‘Bill won’t discriminate’, Modi’s guarantee
Prime Minister Modi pushed for all parties to “collectively” ensure the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023.
Modi said that the women’s reservation bill will not “discriminate” against anyone and won’t be “unfair,” providing a “guarantee” that it would not lead to political benefit for a single group.
“The government that was in power earlier, the delimitation of the seats, and the ratio that has been in place since then, will remain unchanged, and the ratio will remain the same,” Modi said.
“All of us (lawmakers) should not let this opportunity. We are about to give the country a new direction. This is an effort to make our legislation more sensitive. In the 21st century, India is moving ahead with a new confidence. We can see India’s stature growing globally,” Modi said.
‘Collective victory’
As the Opposition objected to the timing of the Bill and raised apprehensions about “haste”, Modi said he would “guarantee” that the passage of the bill won’t be a “victory” for one party.
“This will be a collective success for everybody, the entire nation. This won’t go down as a victory for any one party,” he said.
He reminded MPs that those opposing the bill it would not be “forgiven” by the women of the country. “Women have not forgotten those who have stood against their rights,” he said.
“As a friend I have some advice for those opposing this. Everybody who has objected to reservation of women in any field, haven’t been spared by women,” said Modi, adding that the bill should not be given a “political colour.”
Three key bills – The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, The Delimitation Bill, 2026, The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 – have been introduced. The ‘verdict’ will be known on April 17, at 4 pm.
With the effective strength of Lok Sabha being 541, the government needs two-thirds majority, that is, 360. The ruling NDA, with 293 members, needs 67 more from Opposition ranks.
For the bill’s passage in Rajya Sabha, the magic number is 163. The NDA’s strength is 142, leaving it 21 short of majority mark.
