The Union government is considering delinking the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or the 128th Constitution (Amendment) Act, reserving a third of seats for women in national and state legislatures, from the condition that it will come into effect after delimitation and the census, and implementing it before the 2027 Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly elections, people aware of the matter said.
A government functionary said that it is being explored whether a lottery system can be introduced to decide the one third of the constituencies that should be reserved for women. Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju reached out to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for his party’s view on the matter, the functionary added.
On whether the government will bring an amendment in the ongoing budget session, the functionary said that such a decision will be incumbent on the opposition’s response. “We are trying to evolve a consensus.”
Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, have suggested delinking the reservation process from delimitation and census.
They demanded that the law be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha election. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had questioned the government’s intent and claimed that the delay in implementing the reservation defeats its purpose.
Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had argued that implementing the reservation after the delimitation exercise would make it foolproof, and nobody could challenge the process in the court of law.
The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed in Parliament in September 2023 during a special session. It was the first legislation passed in the new Parliament building.
