Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The budget session of the Parliament will reconvene from April 16 to likely pass bills to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816 seats.Government is looking to introduce at least two bills—including constitutional amendments—in the current session of Parliament to roll out reservation for women of one-third seats in the next Lok Sabha poll and assembly elections to be held after it.
The move promises to change the country’s political landscape and put an authoritative stamp on PM Modi’s much-touted agenda of women’s empowerment as the campaign for four state assemblies gathers pace. If the government has its way, then the number of seats in Lok Sabha will rise by 50% to 816 from the existing 543, with the 273-seat increase set aside for women, ensuring that the existing political dynamics and incumbent parliamentarians, overwhelmingly male, are not cut loose as a reshaped order takes hold. The majority mark will, accordingly, move to 409.According to news agency PTI, the two houses will reconvene for either two or three days to take up the proposed legislation.While speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said that the House will meet again soon to consider a key legislation.“We have certain bills and important issues, and we have shared this with the opposition also. We are going to have a very important bill in the next two-three weeks,” Rijiju said.The strength of Lok Sabha will increase for the first time in over five decades. The strength of Rajya Sabha and legislative councils in states will not be affected. At least two bills, one on delimitation and another for an amendment in the Constitution, which needs two-thirds support in both Houses, will be brought.Although the governing NDA does not have the strength to secure the passage of the bill on its own, the government seems keen to push for its passage during the budget session concluding on April 4. Failing that, it is open to the idea of convening a short session specifically for women’s quota.Home minister Amit Shah is leading the effort to get support for the two bills and held two meetings on Monday, one with regional parties from the non-NDA bloc, including opposition parties and those unaligned to either formation (NDA or INDIA blocs), and another with BJP’s allies.
