Women’s Reservation And Delimitation Bills Presented In Lok Sabha
  • The Parliament conducted a special session today to examine three government bills. The three government bills examine women's legislative representation and electoral boundary delimitation which requires electoral boundary assessment. 
  • The Lok Sabha began its sitting at 11:00 AM. The House received two bills from Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and Home Minister Amit Shah. The members of the house started their discussion about the bills after the introduction motion was presented.
  • Opposition parties demanded a division vote. Speaker Om Birla accepted this demand. The House conducted the voting process. A total of 207 members voted in support of introducing the bills. 126 members voted against it. After this, the bills were admitted for discussion.

Details of the proposed bills

  • One of the main proposals is the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill. This bill suggests an increase in the maximum strength of the Lok Sabha from 550 seats to 850 seats. The upcoming delimitation process will use 2011 census data for its operations.
  • Another proposal calls for the creation of a Delimitation Commission. The body will determine new boundaries for Lok Sabha districts and state assembly districts.
  • Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the third bill which establishes new Union Territory constituency boundaries.
  • Parliament presented three bills to the House for evaluation on a common date.

Parliamentary schedule and debate

  • The bills will undergo their complete discussion during three consecutive days which begin today. The two Houses of Parliament will receive 18 hours of time to discuss these proposals.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver a speech to the Lok Sabha in the evening. 

Voting requirements and political position

  • One of the three bills is a Constitutional Amendment Bill. It requires a two-thirds majority in both Houses to pass. The other two bills need only a simple majority.
  • The Lok Sabha currently has 540 members. For a two-thirds majority, at least 360 votes are required.
  • The ruling NDA alliance has the support of 292 members. Based on this number, it needs at least 68 additional votes to reach the required threshold for the Constitutional Amendment Bill.
  • The opposition INDIA alliance has stated that it will oppose the delimitation-related proposals and is expected to vote against the bill.
  • As a result, the outcome of the Constitutional Amendment Bill remains uncertain at this stage.