New Delhi, Apr 17 (TNT):The Lok Sabha on Friday defeated a Constitution Amendment Bill aimed at operationalising reservation for women in legislatures and increasing the strength of the House and revise the delimitation frakework ahead of the 2029 general elections.
The Bill failed to secure the required two-thirds majority, receiving 298 votes in favour and 230 against out of 528 members present and voting, falling short of the 352 votes needed for passage.
The proposed legislation sought to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha to a maximum of 850 seats from the current 543, as part of a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census to implement the women’s reservation framework.
With the Bill’s defeat, the proposed expansion of seats and implementation roadmap for 33 per cent women’s reservation linked to delimitation has been put on hold.\
Earlier intervening in the debate, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said concerns that southern states would lose representation were misplaced, asserting that their share would remain largely unchanged even after the proposed expansion.
He said under a 50 per cent increase model, the strength of the House could rise from 543 to 816 seats, with representation of southern states increasing from 129 to 195, maintaining a share of around 24 per cent.
He also clarified that the delimitation exercise would not come into effect before 2029 and would not impact elections scheduled before that.
Despite the government’s assurances, the Bill could not garner the constitutionally mandated majority, halting plans to link seat expansion with implementation of women’s reservation.
TNT TS
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