PM Urges Opposition Not to Politicize Women’s Quota Law

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday made a fervent appeal to the Opposition while seeking its support for the amendments in women’s reservation bill along with the delimitation bill associated with it, saying these legislations should not be measured in political terms but as a decision in the interest of the nation. He also tried to allay Opposition’s concerns that the delimitation exercise associated with women quota is discriminatory and will reduce seats in southern states, assuring the proportion of Lok Sabha seats in any state will not come down. The PM said he will get all the credit in case the parties oppose these bills but he is ready to give a "blank cheque" for credit to all those who support the legislation.

"Today, I have come to appeal to you that do not weigh this on political scales. This is a decision in the national interest. The women across the country and the world are watching us, and will see our decisions. But more than the decision itself, they will judge our intent. If there is any flaw in our intent, the women of this country will never forgive," the PM said.

He was speaking during the discussion on The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, The Delimitation Bill, 2026 and The Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill), 2026, introduced in Lok Sabha on Thursday by union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Amit Shah. The bills propose to amend the women's quota law and set up a delimitation commission to work out seat increase in states and UTs.

Though supporting the women’s quota, the Opposition parties are against the legislation on delimitation, terming it anti-constitutional. Accusing the government of “finishing off democracy” by putting pressure on institutions, such as the Election Commission (EC) and the judiciary, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra termed the delimitation bill as an "open attack on democracy. "This (bill) seems fine on the surface but the real meaning comes to the fore when one carefully reads it. It smells of politics," Priyanka said. "Women easily recognise those who try to mislead them," she added while taking a swipe at Mr Modi and the BJP.

However, on his part PM assured there was no politics behind the proposed laws and the intention was purely to empower women in political decision making. He explained that the reservation bill passed in 2023 had little time for implementation in 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but this time the government wants to make it effective from 2029 polls.

“There will be no change in that proportion (of Lok Sabha seats), and the increase will also be in the same proportion…No state, big or small, north or south, east or west will be discriminated against in the delimitation of constituencies linked with the implementation of women quota law,” he said.

Mr Modi also said the government does not want any credit for implementation of the women reservation bill but if any opposition of it will obviously benefit him politically. "If you oppose it, it is natural that I will gain political benefit, but if you walk along, no one will gain any political advantage...We don't want credit. If you want me to use the word 'guarantee', I use the word 'guarantee'. If you want me to make a promise, I use the word 'promise'. Because if the intention is clear, there is no need to play games with words," said the PM.

Later, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also clarified that the representation of five southern states will go up in the Lok Sabha from the present 129 to 195 seats and the percentage of power will increase from 23.76 per cent to 23.87 or almost 24 per cent. "Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka will increase to 42 from the present 28; in Andhra Pradesh, the number of Lok Sabha sets will increase to 38 from 25; in Telangana, it will be 26 from present 17; in Tamil Nadu, the number of Lok Sabha seats will go up to 59 from the present 39; and in Kerala, it will be 30 seats from the present 20," he said. Explaining how the total number of seats in the new Lok Sabha is fixed at 816, the home minister said it is exactly 50 per cent more than the current total seats.

Opposing the legislation relating to delimitation, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned the government why it didn't give 33 per cent reservation to women from the current 543 seats of the Lok Sabha. She argued that the fine print of the bill on delimitation commission shows that its three members will decide the fate of the states and their representation in Parliament.

"The Congress is strongly in support of women's reservation. But the truth is that the debate is not on women's reservation. The bill that the government has brought has changed the direction of the debate," Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the government is using amendments to delay the Census. He also opposed rotation of seats as mentioned in the reservation bill.

Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar accused the government of making an attempt to alter the electoral process and harm democracy. She expressed apprehensions that the proposed delimitation commission will be "authoritarian just like the Election Commission of India." She also questioned the timing of the bills when the assembly polls were underway.

Voting on the three bills in Lok Sabha will be held at 4 PM Friday. Being a Constitution amendment bill, the NDA needs the backing of 360 MPs, which is two-thirds of those present and voting if all 540 MPs show up. However, the NDA does not have the required numbers as it has the support of 293 members in the Lok Sabha, which is 54 per cent of the house, and the opposition has 233 MPs. There are 7 MPs who are independents, 7 belong to parties like the YSRCP, AIMIM and Shiromani Akali Dal who are yet to openly support the government on the delimitation bill. The government is actively engaged in back channel talks with political parties to get support for the bills or make some of them abstain.