The legislation, more commonly known as the Women’s Reservation Bill, 2023, was passed by Parliament during a special session, the first in the new Parliament House, on September 21, 2023. File | Photo credit: PTI
The Congress told the government that instead of consulting the political parties individually on the possibility of bringing an amendment to speed up the timeline for the implementation of the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Act, the government should convene an all-party meeting. The Act seeks to allocate 33% of seats in directly elected legislatures, including the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, to women.
The legislation, more commonly known as the Women’s Reservation Bill, 2023, was passed by Parliament during a special session, the first in the new Parliament Building, on 21 September 2023.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, on behalf of Home Minister Amit Shah, has informally approached at least two parties, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, seeking their views on amending Section 5 of the Act. The provision states that the reservation for women will come into effect “after the delimitation for that purpose is made after the relevant figures for the first census after the commencement of the Act”.
Neither party has yet met Mr Shah. Although there were phone calls back and forth between the government and the opposition parties. The meeting with the Samajwadi Party was originally scheduled for March 5. On the same day, Mr. Shah was in Patna with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar when he filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections.
Mr Shah was expected to return to the capital in the evening but was delayed.
According to sources, the government has yet to reach out again. “There should be an all-party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take the views of all political parties instead of these informal meetings,” a senior Congress official said.
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Pre-legislative consultation is necessary in this case as it involves a constitutional amendment. Article 368(2) of the Constitution states that such an amendment must be approved in each House “by a majority of all the members of this House and usually by at least a two-thirds majority of the members of this House present and voting”.
The BJP has 240 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 103 members in the Rajya Sabha. In neither chamber does the party alone command the power needed to pass legislation.
Published – 12 March 2026 22:59 IST
