Govt goes from fast-tracking women's quota to saving the very law, all in one day

New Delhi,UPDATED: Apr 17, 2026 12:57 IST

The government's move to implement the 2023 Women's Reservation Act (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) is raising eyebrows because of its timing. As Parliament was debating a contentious amendment to the very Act late on Thursday evening, the Union Ministry of Law & Justice issued a gazette notification in the dead of night on Thursday appointing April 16, 2026, as the date from which the Act would come into force.

The Nair Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, which mandates reserving of 33% of all directly elected seats in Parliament and state assemblies for women, was passed by Parliament and later assented to by the President in 2023. The President's assent came with a crucial detail -- the Act would take effect only from a date that the Centre would later announce.

On Thursday, the Centre did just that.

Interestingly, this happened just hours before a Lok Sabha vote on a crucial Constitution Amendment Bill. The bill, among other things, seeks to bring forward the timeline for women's reservation to the 2029 Lok Sabha election. Under the 2023 law, this is currently to take place not before the 2034 election.

As we wait for the Lok Sabha vote to take place this evening, a bigger question arises: Why the rush to publish the notification for the enforcement of the 2023 Women's Reservation Act?

Speaking in Parliament on Friday, Congress MP KC Venugopal, called the development an "extraordinary situation" with other Opposition leaders joining in to demand answers from the Law Minister, Arujun Ram Meghwal, about Thursday's notification.

Government officials told news agency PTI that the reason behind the move was "technicalities". It remains unclear what those technicalities are, but one of the theories is that the government may be looking to plug any loopholes with regard to the 2023 law should its amendment get defeated in the vote in Lok Sabha today.

THE OLD AND THE NEW

The 2023 law, formally the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, was passed and gazetted in September 2023, but it was not self-executing. Section 1(2) stated that it would come into force only on a date to be separately appointed by the Central government through a Gazette notification. Until Thursday night's notification, the Act had existed on the books in a state of limbo.

The government is now asking Parliament to amend parts of the same law through the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026. The bill is part of a larger legislative package that does multiple things, including:

- Expanding the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850

- Carry out delimitation of Lok Sabha seats without waiting for fresh Census data (the last Census was conducted in 2011, and the next is slated for 2026-27)

- De-linking women's reservation from the requirement of a fresh Census. Under the 2023 Act, women's reservation can only be implemented after delimitation based on the first Census conducted after the law comes into force (expected in 2026-27). The proposed amendment seeks to give Parliament the flexibility to decide which Census data to use for this purpose, including the 2011 Census or any subsequent enumeration.

The package of bills would, among other things, bring the women's quota into effect in time for the 2029 Lok Sabha election rather than leave it before the election after that.

SENSING DEFEAT?

Now, while the topic of women's reservation itself has broad bipartisan support, the treasury and opposition benches are sharply divided on the delimitation package wrapped around it. The Opposition has remained firm, and largely united, in arguing that any delimitation exercise should follow a fresh Census. That has made the fate of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha far less certain than the government would like.

As a constitutional amendment, the Bill must secure the support of a majority of the House's total membership as well as a two-thirds majority of members present and voting. In a full House of 540 (three seats are currently vacant), that is a steep threshold.

The ruling NDA is around 65 MPs short of the number needed to pass the bill. This will be a big gap to bridge even after taking into account abstentions, Independents, and support from fence-sitters such as the YSRCP. Thursday's division on the motion for introduction of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill offered an early warning sign. Of the 436 members present, 251 voted in favour and 185 against. The simple majority was enough to introduce the Bill, but nowhere near the numbers needed to guarantee its passage.

- Ends