The Women’s Reservation Bill (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) to amend the 2023 Act to hasten implementation of 33% female representation is being unnecessarily opposed. The current focus is on decoupling the quota from the delayed census and directly linking it to an upcoming delimitation exercise that proposes expanding the Lok Sabha to 850 seats. The Centre has moved the Constitution (131st) Amendment Bill to change the implementation timeline, moving away from waiting for the post-2021 census delimitation, aiming to speed up the process. The discussion has focused on increasing the total Lok Sabha seats (from 543 to around 850) and implementing the 1/3rd reservation for women simultaneously. While most parties have supported the principle, opposition parties are questioning the linkage to fresh delimitation based on old data, which some argue might still lead to delays.
Whatever the results of the debate and success or failure of the consequent vote, it is important to understand that the opposition’s demand the act be implemented without delimitation would prove politically disastrous. Everybody knows this but nobody is willing to acknowledge the fact. If the reservation were to be implemented on the present Lok Sabha numbers, it would mean that one-third of the male members who represent constituencies they have served in many cases for decades will be summarily ousted, regardless of how good their performance has been and their support among the public. This would create political turmoil no party would be able to contain, particularly the BJP as it has the most number of seats.
This is why seats have to be added on to the current number so that nobody is unseated, while at the same time women are accommodated. This will, therefore, require delimitation. The present proposal ensures proportional representation for states, which means every state will have the same percentage of seats as it did before. The claims that the states of the south will be disadvantaged are a misrepresentation.
Then there is the demand from some parties, such as the Samajwadi Party and RJD, that the Act include sub-reservations for castes based on the next census. This would be a problem for the southern states as the most likely outcome would be a drop in their population figures thereby presenting a challenge to the present level of representation.
The solution being sought by the government is the best for the present if women are to get their due representation in Parliament.
