Special Parliament session from Aug 16-18 on Women's Reservation, Delimitation Bills: Kiren Rijiju
A three-day special Parliament session from 16 to 18 August 2026 has been announced to take up the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 (which links Lok Sabha delimitation to the operationalisation of women's reservation) along with the companion Delimitation Bill, 2026
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill previously failed to secure the required two-thirds special majority in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session in April 2026, falling 54 votes short with 298 in favour against a requirement of 352
The Bill proposes expanding the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats (815 from states, 35 from Union Territories) and deleting a proviso in Article 82 that currently ties fresh delimitation to the first Census after 2026
The stated objective is to operationalise the 33% women's reservation already inserted into the Constitution via Articles 330A and 332A, so that it applies from the 2029 general elections rather than waiting for delimitation after a future Census
The 106th Amendment (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) vs the 131st Amendment Bill
It is important to distinguish two separate constitutional amendments that are often conflated in reporting. The 106th Amendment already made women's reservation part of the Constitution; the 131st Amendment Bill is what would actually trigger its implementation.
Key Details
- The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 — the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — received Presidential assent on 28 September 2023 and inserted Articles 330A and 332A, reserving one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, the Delhi Assembly, and every state Legislative Assembly, including one-third of seats already reserved for SCs/STs
- The 106th Amendment fixed the reservation for 15 years (extendable by Parliament) with rotation of reserved seats after each delimitation exercise, but explicitly linked its commencement to delimitation carried out after the first Census taken following the amendment's enactment
- Because the next Census was scheduled only for 2027 (with delimitation to follow), the 106th Amendment's women's quota could not take effect for the 2029 general election without a further amendment
- The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 is that further amendment — it seeks to delete the third proviso to Article 82 so delimitation (and consequently the women's quota) can proceed using pre-2026 Census data instead of waiting for the post-2026 Census
The special session's real legislative task is not to reintroduce the women's quota (already constitutional law since 2023) but to remove the Census/delimitation bottleneck that has kept it dormant — which is why the Delimitation Bill and the 131st Amendment Bill are tabled together.
Article 368 — Special Majority and State Ratification for This Amendment
Constitutional amendment Bills affecting the representation of states in Parliament attract a stricter procedure than ordinary constitutional amendments, which is why the 131st Amendment Bill needs more than a simple majority to pass.
Key Details
- Under Article 368(2), a constitutional amendment Bill must be passed by each House by (a) a majority of the total membership of that House, and (b) a majority of not less than two-thirds of members present and voting
- Because the 131st Amendment Bill affects Articles 81 and 82 (composition and delimitation of the Lok Sabha) — provisions touching the representation of states — the proviso to Article 368(2) additionally requires ratification by the legislatures of at least one-half of the states before Presidential assent
- In the April 2026 vote, with 528 members participating in the Lok Sabha, the government needed 352 votes (two-thirds of those present and voting) but secured only 298, short by 54
- Following that defeat, the two linked Bills — the Delimitation Bill, 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — were also withdrawn, since they were procedurally tied to the 131st Amendment Bill's passage
The special session is essentially a second attempt to cross the same two-thirds threshold that defeated the Bill in April; unlike an ordinary Bill (simple majority), this constitutional amendment cannot pass on numbers alone without cross-party consensus, and state ratification remains a further hurdle even after Parliament clears it.
Delimitation and the Freeze on Constituency Redrawing
Delimitation is the process of redrawing constituency boundaries and reallocating seats based on updated population data — a politically sensitive exercise because faster-growing states could gain seats at the expense of states with lower population growth.
Key Details
- The 42nd Amendment (1976) and 84th Amendment (2001) froze the total number of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats at 1971 Census levels, a freeze subsequently extended by the 87th Amendment (2001) to delimitation based on the 2001 Census (for boundaries only, not seat numbers), with the freeze on seat numbers extended until the first Census after 2026
- The stated rationale for the freeze was to avoid penalising states that had successfully controlled population growth with a loss of parliamentary seats relative to high-growth states
- Removing the freeze via the 131st Amendment raises the federalism concern that southern and other lower-growth states could see their proportional share of Lok Sabha seats shrink even as their absolute seat numbers rise (the government has cited a rise from 129 to 195 seats for southern states in absolute terms under the proposed 850-seat House)
- Delimitation is carried out by a Delimitation Commission constituted under a Delimitation Act, with orders that have the force of law and cannot be challenged in court (Article 329(a) bars judicial interference in matters of delimitation and elections law)
The Delimitation Bill, 2026, tabled alongside the 131st Amendment Bill, would enable the Delimitation Commission to draw the enlarged 850-seat map before the 2029 elections, making the seat-freeze debate central to whether the Bill can secure the two-thirds and state-ratification support it lacked in April.
- Special session dates: 16-18 August 2026 (three days)
- Bills to be taken up: Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026
- Proposed Lok Sabha strength: 850 seats (815 states + 35 UTs), up from 543
- April 2026 vote outcome: 298 in favour, 230 against, of 528 present; fell 54 votes short of the 352 needed for two-thirds
- Women's reservation already in the Constitution since: 106th Amendment Act, 2023 (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam), Articles 330A and 332A
- Target election for women's quota implementation: 2029 general election
- Seat-number freeze basis: 42nd Amendment (1976) and 84th/87th Amendments (2001), tied to the 1971 Census, extendable until the first Census after 2026
- Additional requirement beyond Parliament: ratification by at least one-half of state legislatures (proviso to Article 368(2))