Women’s Reservation Act: Govt to call special session

The Government is likely to convene a special session of Parliament to pass the proposed amendments to the Women’s Reservation Act, as the Opposition demanded an all-party meeting to discuss the matter. Earlier, the Centre was mulling over bringing the bill in the ongoing Budget session.

The Women’s Reservation Act, passed in 2023, provides for a 33 per cent reservation for women in both the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, but it has yet to be implemented due to the pending delimitation exercise. The proposed amendments to the act aim to delink its implementation from the delayed delimitation exercise currently slated for 2027-28.

Several Opposition parties on Tuesday wrote to the Government, asking for an all-party meeting to be convened to discuss the modalities of the implementation of the women’s quota law.

In a letter to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, the Opposition leaders said the meeting should be held after the current round of assembly elections is completed in April.

“You may recall that I had written to you on March 16, 2026, requesting that an all-party meeting chaired by the PM be convened at the earliest to discuss, as desired by you, the modalities and roadmap for the implementation of the Nari Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023,” read the letter written on Congress president Kharge’s letterhead. The letter has signatories from several Opposition parties, except the Trinamool Congress.

This comes after the Government said it was planning to bring two bills in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament to ensure that the women’s reservation law is implemented before the completion of the delimitation exercise for the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies.

The Opposition leaders, in their letter, said that the Government was planning a further amendment to the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill passed in September 2023. The law is officially known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act.

“All Opposition parties now reiterate their demand for an all-party meeting to discuss the proposed Constitution Amendment. To make the meeting more productive, it is necessary for the Government to circulate a note detailing what exactly is being proposed.

“The all-party meeting should be held after the current round of assembly elections is completed on April 29, 2026,” the letter read. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh handed over the letter to Rijiju after meeting him in Parliament House.

The decision to write to the Government to convene an all-party meeting was taken by the Opposition leaders at their meeting in the morning. The leaders had met in the chamber of the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Tuesday morning.

The signatories to the letter include Congress president Kharge, Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant.

CPI(M) leader John Brittas, CPI leader P Sandosh Kumar, NCP(SP) leader Supriya Sule and Fauzia Khan, JMM leader Mahua Maji and Joba Majhi, NK Premachandran (RSP), Thirumaavalavan Tholkappiyan (VCK) and ET Mohammed Basheer (IUML), besides leaders of JKNC, CPI-ML and DMK, are also among the signatories.

The decision to put the legislation on ice for now was conveyed during a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Lok Sabha. The Government indicated that a special session of Parliament may be convened if required, or the bills could be deferred to the Monsoon Session.

Meanwhile, several women MPs, cutting across party lines, on Tuesday welcomed the Centre’s plans to bring legislations to implement the women’s reservation law, saying the move will further strengthen women’s participation in governance.

JD(U) MP Lovely Anand termed it a “welcome step” and said greater participation of women in politics will accelerate the country’s progress.

BJP MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat said the passage of the women’s reservation law fulfilled a long-standing promise made to “half the population” of the country by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Samajwadi Party MP Iqra Hasan also welcomed the initiative but said clarity is needed on how the reservation will be implemented.