Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Advocates for Women's Reservation Bill, Emphasizing Empowerment of Half of India's Population

: Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly advocated implementing the women’s reservation bill starting with the 2029 Lok Sabha elections during Lok Sabha debate on the Constitution Amendment Bill. He urged MPs not to let this historic opportunity slip, noting women remember those opposing their rights and emphasised that key national moments demand visionary leadership to turn them into lasting assets. PM Modi avoided specifics on raised issues, promising detailed clarifications later, while highlighting the bill’s role in empowering half the population in policymaking. Three Bills – the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026’, Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026’ and Delimitation Bill , 2026’ were introduced in the Lok Sabha in the special sitting of the budget session of Parliament today. The bills are aimed at operationalising the legislation, which was passed in 2023 to provide 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. The Delimitation Bill is aimed at ending the decades-old freeze on seat readjustment (based on the 1971 Census), the proposal seeks to expand the Lok Sabha from 543 to up to 850 seats and enable fresh delimitation of constituencies using the latest census figures. A new Delimitation Commission will be set up by the Centre to carry out this exercise. The process is expected to be completed before the next General Elections in 2029. The last delimitation exercise took place in 2002, but at that time only the boundaries of constituencies were changed, while the total number of seats remained the same. Delimitation is a regular process carried out every few decades to redraw the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies and create new seats. The aim is to make sure states get fair representation as their populations grow. The upcoming exercise will be the fifth such exercise in India. The first delimitation took place in 1952, based on the 1951 Census, when 494 Lok Sabha seats were allocated. Similar exercises were held in 1963 and 1973. During the 1973 exercise, which used data from the 1971 Census, the number of seats was fixed at 543, when India’s population was around 54.8 crore. In the most recent exercise in 2002, the total number of seats did not change. Only the boundaries of constituencies were adjusted. According to the 2011 Census, India’s population has doubled since 1971, making it necessary to redistribute seats among states. According to the govt, there is also a big gap in the number of voters across constituencies. While some seats in both northern and southern states have 20 to 30 lakh voters, smaller regions like Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Ladakh have much fewer voters, around 47,972, 1,02,260 and 1,59,949 respectively. Congress leader KC Venugopal posed direct questions to PM Modi, noting the 2023 law already linked implementation to census and delimitation, yet the government could have enacted women's reservation in 2024 if committed. The opposition offers a "blank cheque" to proceed under the 2023 terms using current Parliament strength, accusing the ruling side of deliberate postponement. Defending Congress's legacy- delivering India's first woman PM (who stood firm against the US) and Lok Sabha Speaker- Venugopal highlighted their partial passage of women's reservation, contrasting it with the BJP's nine-year inaction, and warned the Bills weaponize democracy unless implemented immediately for credit. Congress leader KC Venugopal opposed the bills in Lok Sabha, pointing out Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech avoided the word "delimitation" despite opposition concerns about the Centre stripping states' representation. While PM Modi focused solely on the women's reservation bill passed in 2023, now three years old, Venugopal called the government's new legislation a "drama," questioning PM's warning that opposition would face political peril. He dismissed Kiren Rijiju's theatrics as expected but expressed shock at the Prime Minister's involvement, urging sincerity instead of delays. Speaking in Lok Sabha on women's reservation and delimitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "I want to say responsibly today that this will not discriminate against anyone. This decision process will not be unfair to anyone. The government that was in power earlier, the delimitation of the seats, and the ratio that has been in place since then, will remain unchanged, and the ratio will remain the same." On the Women's Reservation Bill, Uttar Pradesh State Women's Commission Chairperson Babita Chauhan says, "First of all, on behalf of half the country’s population, I would like to thank and express my gratitude to the Prime Minister for at least thinking that half of the population should also be brought into the mainstream. All of us women are very happy. This is a historic moment that will be written in golden letters." Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the ruling BJP of turning 'nari' (women) into a "nara" (slogan) and that it was using amendments to the women's quota law to delay the Census. Yadav said the Samajwadi Party has always supported reservation for women and furthered the cause of women-led development. All socialist leaders have believed in gender and social justice, he said. Speaking in Lok Sabha on women's reservation and delimitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "The need of the hour is that we should not delay any further. In the meantime, discussions have been held with political party members, knowledgeable people and those who work as activists. Some people have even offered suggestions on their own. Some loopholes have to be removed from it. So that we can unite the power of our mothers and sisters." Addressing the Lok Sabha on the Women’s Reservation Bill, PM Modi says, “I would just like to say that this should not be weighed on the scale of politics. Whenever we move to take a decision, those who carry responsibility for such a large parts of the country also have a right to be present here. We should not stop them. Secondly, regarding numbers, there has long been a discussion that their count should not be reduced. If it is increased, the process will move faster. That is why the proposal has come to increase it by 33 per cent so that no one feels their rights are being taken away. It will add new and additional strength. The structure of the House has already been planned accordingly, and space has been created. I would also like to say in a lighter vein that everyone has their own political reasons, and the fear of defeat can be quite striking. But whenever something good happens, there is a tradition of putting a 'kala teeka' to protect it from evil. I thank you for putting that ‘kala teeka’.” Speaking in Lok Sabha on women's reservation and delimitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "Dharmendra Yadav (Samajwadi Party MP) ji, I am very grateful to you for introducing me. It's true, I come from a very backward community. Akhilesh ji is my friend, so he helps me sometimes. I am indebted to the countrymen and I am indebted to the community builders because of whom I am here." Speaking in Lok Sabha on women's reservation and delimitation, PM Modi says, "I'd also like to offer advice to those who think only in political terms. Ever since the discussion about women's reservations began in our country, and every election that followed, whoever opposed this right for women, the women of the country have not forgiven them." "Anyone who wants to move forward in political life will have to accept that over the past 25 years, lakhs of women have emerged as grassroots leaders. The leadership that has developed at the grassroots level among women must be recognised and taken into account. Therefore, those who oppose this today will have to pay the price for a long time," said PM Modi in Lok Sabha today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated in the Lok Sabha that had women's reservation been implemented 25-30 years ago, it would have reached significant maturity by now. He called everyone fortunate to participate in this pivotal moment, empowering half of India's population in nation-building policy decisions. PM Modi speaking in the Lok Sabha on the Women’s Reservation Bill, said, “Due to various reasons, we are already late. Whether we agree to it in public or not, we all acknowledge this in private. I want to give friendly advice to those trying to politicise this, the women of the country have not forgiven anyone who opposed this bill.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "We Indians are coming together to give a new direction to the nation. We are making a meaningful effort to strengthen our system of governance. I believe the outcome of this churning will shape the nature and character of the country’' politics and determine the nation’s direction. It is extremely important." Speaking in Lok Sabha on women's reservation and delimitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "The need was that when this idea was first conceived 25-30 years ago, and the need was felt, we should have implemented it, and today we have brought it to a mature stage. According to the need, it is also improved from time to time, and this is the beauty of democracy. Ours is the Mother of Democracy. Our democracy has been a development journey for thousands of years, and all of us in this House have the auspicious opportunity to add a new dimension to this development journey." Speaking in Lok Sabha on women's reservation and delimitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "The need was that when this idea was first conceived 25-30 years ago, and the need was felt, we should have implemented it, and today we have brought it to a mature stage. According to the need, it is also improved from time to time, and this is the beauty of democracy. Ours is the Mother of Democracy. Our democracy has been a development journey for thousands of years, and all of us in this House have the auspicious opportunity to add a new dimension to this development journey." Addressing the Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav says, "We want 33% reservation to include backward class women and Muslim women so that the reservation is complete and fair." “We are afraid that Delimitation Bill will raise issues of division and disunity in India”, says DMK leader RS Bharathi. On the Women's Reservation Bill, NCP Working President Praful Patel says, "Today the business was only for the swearing in of members, certain obituary references and some other papers to be laid. The woman's reservation is something which has been agreed upon by all parties, and delimitation is only based on the same pro-rata representation which each state is enjoying in the Lok Sabha at present." Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav takes a dig at the government during the Lok Sabha discussion on the Women’s Reservation Bill, saying, “BJP has made ‘Nari’ (women) their ‘Nara’ (slogan).” Bhartiya Janta Party MP Tejasvi Surya launched a sharp attack on the Opposition and regional parties from the South, particularly the DMK, during his address in the Lok Sabha, asserting that concerns being raised over the delimitation Bill are politically motivated and amount to 'propaganda'.Addressing the Lower House of Parliament, Surya said, "Why are Opposition parties and some regional parties of the South, led by the DMK, making so much noise? The tears they are shedding are crocodile tears. I thank heaven that in 2026, when the country undertakes delimitation, the BJP-led Centre will carry it out. The Congress government divided Andhra Pradesh into two parts, and they did worse than the British in partitioning the country.""I come from the south, from Karnataka, and over the last three days we've seen a systematic misleading and propaganda by the Opposition in the most anarchic fashion in southern India," he said.Calling it a historic moment, Surya said that women in India, who have waited nearly four decades for representation in national policy-making, are finally set to get their due with the implementation of the Women's Reservation Bill.He also accused the Opposition of attempting to stall the process by raising "vacuous and baseless" objections to the delimitation exercise."Today is truly a historic day because finally the women of India, who have been waiting for almost 40 years for their right to participate in the national policy-making process, will finally get their due...Even today the opposition has come up with a new argument, a new pretext to further stall, disturb, and oppose the implementation of the Women Reservation Bill. The new pretext they have raised is their vacuous and baseless opposition to the delimitation exercise," he said."Delimitation is not a backdoor exercise; we are purely following what the Constitution mandates," he said.The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 were introduced in the Lok Sabha today after the Opposition pressed for a division against the move to introduce three Bills, instead of a voice vote. On the Women’s Reservation Bill, Uttar Pradesh Minister Danish Azad Ansari said, “Today is a very important day for the country’s Parliament. Our nation is taking a historic step forward as Parliament moves ahead with this bill. This will further strengthen the vision of a developed India by 2047. Prime Minister Narendra Modi understands that the country cannot move forward without empowering women and this bill reflects that vision.” On Women's Reservation Bill, BJP MLA Maithili Thakur says, "I congratulate all the women. Our PM is about to take a historic step, and its positive impact will be seen in the Lok Sabha elections. The issues relating to women will be raised in the House. When a woman leads, she works keeping in mind every section of society." On Women's Reservation Bill, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor says, "The issue is very simple. The government has a plan to redelimit the constituency and increase the number of seats in areas where the ruling party is strong. They are using women's reservation as an excuse to bring about that change by trying to amend the constitutional amendments that they had already brought in 2023." On delimitation issue, AAP leader Manish Sisodia says, "The Women's Reservation Bill is a good idea, and we all stand in support of it. But the way they're tampering with the entire structure of the seats. It has become a trend for PM Modi that if his party can't win elections in a certain area, they get votes cut from there. Now they're bringing this new legislation - wherever we can't win elections, reduce the Lok Sabha seats there, and wherever we win, increase the seats. We are against delimitation; the way it's being done is very wrong." On Women's Reservation Bill, CPI(M) MP John Brittas says, "If the government is sincere about the cause of women's empowerment, let them forthwith implement women's reservation out of the 543 memberships of the Lok Sabha. Let it be disconnected from delimitation, census and all these plethora of qualifications which they want to bring in. We will not support any move to increase the number of Lok Sabha and assemblies without having sufficient consultation with the stakeholders and state governments." On the proposed Delimitation Bill and Women's Reservation Bill, BJP leader K Annamalai says, " Tamil Nadu stands to benefit from women’s reservation and constituency delimitation. However, MK Stalin is said to be promoting a misleading narrative by taking a rigid stance that reservations should not be provided to women. The people of Tamil Nadu do not seem to trust this position. As evidence of this, it is claimed that no households have hoisted black flags in protest. It is difficult to understand why the DMK opposes women’s reservation. In general, political parties do not provide sufficient opportunities for women. Therefore, opposing women’s reservation is a misguided stance." Former Odisha CM and current LoP Naveen Patnaik writes a letter to all the MPs of Odisha regarding the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill. DMK MP TR Baalu opposes Delimitation Bill, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla says, “What's the point in showing black or green flag, how does it affect Parliament." Speaking in Lok Sabha during debate on Women's Reservation Bill, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi says, "Women's reservation should not be linked with delimitation. Women's reservation should be implemented on current strength of Lok Sabha - 543, we will fully support you. You want to bring it in 2029, please do it. But you do politics in everything, politics of symbolism in everything. It is evident in these three bills that you this is not Women's Reservation Bill but to do delimitation through back door." On the Women's Reservation Bill, BJP leader and RS MP Manan Kumar Mishra says, "The opposition's objective is to spread confusion among the people of the country and obstruct women's reservation in any way possible. With this very objective, these people held a meeting and planned how to stop women's reservation. They ruled for 40-50 years, but it never occurred to them. Delimitation is necessary. When the population has increased, equal delimitation accordingly is essential. The number of seats in the Lok Sabha will increase. There is no problem anywhere."