A day after the BJP-led NDA government's Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill failed to pass in the Parliament, the ruling party of Tamil Nadu, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has put forward a counter proposal seeking immediate implementation of women's reservation.
Private member's Bill introduced
The proposal, moved by DMK MP P Wilson, calls for 33 per cent reservation for women in the existing 543-seat Lok Sabha. Unlike the government's approach, the Bill suggests implementing the quota from the next election without increasing seats, conducting delimitation or relying on census data.
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The move is seen as the Opposition's most direct legislative response so far to allegations that rival parties were blocking the women's reservation measure. However, the Bill could not be taken up as both Houses were adjourned.
Debate over delimitation
The issue of delimitation remains at the centre of the disagreement. The women's quota legislation had earlier received broad support in 2023, but concerns have since emerged over proposals to carry out delimitation using 2011 Census data.
Opposition leaders have flagged concerns about regional seat distribution and the absence of caste-based sub-quotas, arguing that these issues need to be addressed before implementing the reservation.
Immediate implementation without seat increase
The DMK's proposal seeks to amend the Constitution to enforce reservation immediately across the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and union territory legislatures, including Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.
Notably, the Bill does not call for any increase in the total number of seats and does not tie implementation to future census or delimitation exercises.
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The party also submitted a notice under Rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha, seeking suspension of business to allow an immediate discussion on women's reservation without linking it to delimitation or census requirements.
Another key difference is that the DMK proposal seeks to make the reservation permanent, unlike the government's 2023 law, which capped it at 15 years.
