Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Apr 17: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday urged Opposition parties to clarify their stand on the Women’s Reservation Bill, asserting that delays in its passage would effectively block its implementation.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Shah challenged Opposition members to state whether their resistance was due to the proposed 50 per cent increase in Lok Sabha seats through delimitation. He said he was ready to bring an official amendment within an hour if that was the concern, but insisted the Bill must be passed.
Targeting the INDIA bloc, Shah said no party had openly opposed women’s reservation but accused them of resisting it indirectly through conditional arguments. He warned that postponing the Bill beyond 2029 would amount to denying women their rightful representation.
He further argued that opposition to delimitation was effectively opposition to increasing seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Shah assured that supporting delimitation would ensure equal value for every vote across constituencies.
Highlighting participation in the debate, he said nearly 133 members spoke on the Constitution Amendment Bill, including 56 women, which he described as a record.
On the impact of the proposed changes, Shah said that implementing women’s reservation on the existing 543 seats would result in 13 reserved seats for women in Tamil Nadu, while 26 would remain unreserved. He added that the government is not reducing seats based on the 2011 Census but instead proposing a 50 per cent increase in seats across states.
Referring to history, Shah said the number of Lok Sabha seats was increased from 525 to 545 in 1972 under former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and accused the Congress of halting delimitation during the Emergency through the 42nd Amendment.
Rejecting regional divisions, he emphasised that the country should not be split along “north-south” or “east-west” lines, asserting that all states and Union Territories have equal rights in Parliament.
Shah also clarified that the Narendra Modi-led government has decided to conduct a caste census along with the 2026 Census to avoid confusion among citizens.