India Plans Special Session to Pass Women's Reservation Bill

The Government of India is planning a special session of Parliament to pass the Delimitation Bill, 2026, a necessary step to implement the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023. The proposed legislation seeks to establish a 33 percent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislative assemblies. To facilitate this, the government proposes increasing the Lok Sabha's strength from 543 to a maximum of 850 seats based on the 2011 Census.

To mitigate concerns from southern states, the government intends to increase seats for all states by 50 percent while maintaining inter-state ratios based on the 1971 Census. This effort follows a failed attempt to secure the required two-thirds majority during a special sitting on April 17. The government currently needs 361 votes for passage and reports confidence that it will win by a margin of 15 to 18 votes.

The Indian National Congress has criticized the initiative. Party spokesperson Jairam Ramesh characterized the government's plan as "bluster" and questioned Home Minister Amit Shah's ability to pass the bill given the previous failure in April. The government may utilize the fact that the Monsoon Session has remained unprorogued for 91 days to facilitate the sitting on short notice.