BJP chief holds BJP meet on women’s quota outreach

BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Friday held a meeting in New Delhi with party State unit presidents and other key office bearers to discuss the public outreach plan on the proposed amendments to the Women’s Reservation Act.

The meeting comes ahead of the three-day extended session of Parliament during which proposed amendments to the Act are likely to be brought for consideration and passage. The Government has extended the Budget session of Parliament, and a special three-day sitting will be held from April 16 to 18.

The Union Cabinet is learnt to have cleared on Wednesday the draft bill for amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, also known as the Women’s Reservation Act. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The provision to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and State assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution in 2023, but it would have come into effect after the completion of the delimitation exercise on the basis of the 2027 Census. Therefore, it was expected to come into force only in 2034 if the present law remains as it is.

According to the broad contours available, with the proposed amendments, the number of Lok Sabha seats would be increased from the present 543 to 816, with 273 seats reserved for women. The reservation will also be done on a “vertical basis” with seats allocated for SCs and STs.

The redrawing of the constituencies will be done on the basis of the 2011 census rather than the proposed 2027 Census. A similar exercise will be carried out for State assemblies, where seats will be reserved on a pro-rata basis.

While a Constitution amendment bill will tweak the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, another ordinary bill will amend the Delimitation Act.

Once approved by Parliament, the proposed laws will come into force on March 31, 2029, and will help reserve seats in the next Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections.