Delimitation Bill 2026 tabled as Parliament’s Special Session begins
The Narendra Modi-led BJP government tabled on the first day of the Parliament’s Special Session Thursday April 16, 2026 three bills to implement 33% women's reservation in legislature, delimitation, and increase number of seats for Union Territories.
[The Opposition parties after their meeting a day before the Special Session said they will not allow the Parliament to be "hijacked by flawed delimitation bills disguised as Women’s Reservation".]
Parliament Special Session 2026: The Narendra Modi-led BJP government tabled on the first day of the Parliament’s Special Session Thursday April 16, 2026 three bills to implement 33% women's reservation in legislature, delimitation, and increase number of seats for Union Territories.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026 were tabled by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal whereas the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced in the House by Home Minister Amit Shah.
The reconvening of the Parliament for the 3-day Special Session was announced in the House at the end of the Budget Session proceedings around 2 April 2026.
The purpose of the Special Session of the Parliament is to discuss and introduce constitutional amendment bills related to the implementation of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 or Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, the Delimitation Bill 2026 and Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
At present, there are 530 Lok Sabha members from the states and 20 from Union Territories. Following the delimitation exercise the number of Lok Sabha seats can increase to 815, and 35 for the UTs.
The Centre plans to proceed with the 2011 census data for delimitation and implementation of one-third reservation for women legislators.
Why the Opposition Parties are against Delimitation Bill 2026?
The opposition parties are opposing the linking of delimitation exercise and implementation of women’s reservation based on 2011 Census data. Stressing that this could be injustice to the weaker sections of society and southern Indian states, the opposition parties have urged the government to use the Census 2027 data for the delimitation exercise.
“It is a delimitation bill dressed up as a women’s reservation bill. If the government were serious about reservation, let them delink it from delimitation and bring a standalone bill on women’s reservation”, Congress leader Manish Tewari said.
What worries the Modi government is that the parties such as Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and K Chandrasekhar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) that extend issue-based support to the government, have hardened their stance on delimitation.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin Thursday burnt a copy of the proposed delimitation bill and raised black flag to kick off statewide protests against it.
The Women’s Reservation Bill was earlier tabled and passed by the Parliament in 2023. Its implementation however was stopped till 2029 and till the time the delimitation of constituencies is done.
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