Rijiju, Rahul trade barbs over women's quota bill rollout
Renewed debate has surfaced over the timeline for implementing the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023 — which reserves not less than one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
The 2023 Act was passed by both Houses of Parliament with broad support in September 2023 and received Presidential assent, but no delimitation exercise enabling its implementation has since taken place.
The core disagreement is whether the reservation can be operationalised on the existing constituency structure or must wait for a delimitation exercise, as the constitutional text conditions commencement on delimitation following a fresh census.
The exchange follows the defeat, in April 2026, of a constitutional amendment Bill that had sought to allow delimitation to proceed on 2011 Census data rather than waiting for the census due after 2026.
The 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023 (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam)
The Act inserted new provisions into the Constitution to reserve one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Delhi Assembly. It was passed by Parliament with the special majority required under Article 368 and received Presidential assent on 28 September 2023.
Key Details
- Inserted Article 330A (reservation in the Lok Sabha) and Article 332A (reservation in State Legislative Assemblies), reserving not less than one-third of seats for women, including within seats already reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
- Inserted Article 334A, which governs when the reservation comes into force
- Amended Article 239AA to extend one-third reservation to the Delhi Legislative Assembly
- Received Presidential assent on 28 September 2023
The current dispute is not about the existence of the reservation — which Parliament has already legislated — but about when Article 334A permits it to take effect.
Article 334A — The Delimitation Precondition
Article 334A specifies that the women's reservation takes effect only from the delimitation exercise undertaken after the relevant figures of the first census conducted after the Act's commencement are published. It also carries a sunset clause and a rotation requirement, similar in structure to the existing SC/ST reservation scheme.
Key Details
- The reservation ceases to have effect 15 years after commencement, unless extended by Parliament through law
- Seats reserved for women are to rotate after every delimitation exercise
- The provision links commencement to a two-step sequence: publication of the relevant census, followed by a delimitation exercise based on it
Whether an interim delimitation — using already-available 2011 Census data rather than a future census — satisfies this constitutional text is the precise legal question underlying the current debate over "delinking" the reservation from delimitation.
Constitutional Amendment Procedure — Types of Majority under Article 368
Constitutional amendments in India require different thresholds depending on the provision being altered. Understanding these distinctions is essential to following why implementation of the reservation cannot simply be fast-tracked administratively.
Key Details
- Simple majority (Article 100): more than 50% of members present and voting — used for ordinary legislation
- Special majority under Article 368(2): a majority of the total membership of the House, and not less than two-thirds of members present and voting — required for constitutional amendments
- Proviso to Article 368(2): amendments affecting certain entrenched matters, including the representation of states in Parliament, additionally require ratification by the legislatures of not less than one-half of the states
- A recent attempt to alter the census basis for delimitation — the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 — was defeated in the Lok Sabha in April 2026 after failing to secure the required two-thirds special majority
Because any change to the census-delimitation sequence would itself require a further constitutional amendment clearing this high procedural bar, the debate centres on constitutional interpretation and legislative process rather than administrative rollout.
- 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023: passed by Parliament in September 2023; Presidential assent on 28 September 2023
- Women's reservation: not less than one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, including within SC/ST reserved seats
- Sunset clause under Article 334A: 15 years from commencement, extendable by parliamentary law
- Delimitation freeze: constituencies have been fixed at 1971 Census levels since the 42nd Amendment (1976); the freeze was extended until the first census after 2026 by the 84th Amendment (2001)
- Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 (which sought to enable delimitation on 2011 Census data): defeated in the Lok Sabha on 17 April 2026 by 298 votes to 230, short of the 352 votes required (two-thirds of 528 members present and voting)