Modi Government Introduced Three Bills To Change Electoral Map Of India

On the first day of the three-day Special Session – April 16 to April 18, 2026 – of the Parliament convened by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government, three legislations have been introduced seeking to change the electoral map of India.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has said that there would be 15-18 hours of time to debate on the three Bills – the Constitution 131st Amendment Bill, 2026; the Delimitation Bill, 2026; and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. Voting will be held on the three bills as well as on setting up a delimitation commission on April 17, at 4 PM. If the bills are passed, these will be introduced in the Rajya Sabha, and the government is trying to get them passed in this special session itself.

Government is standing behind its announced purpose to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in national and state legislatures, and has linked it to delimitation based on 15 years old population data of Census-2011, while Census-2027 is underway. Opposition has however strongly resisted the subtle move of the government brought from behind the women’s cause.

PM Narendra Modi, who himself was responsible for delay of the implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam by about a decade, had recently said, “Will be a gross injustice if delayed.” However, the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has said ahead of the special session that the proposed amendment was an attempted power grab using delimitation and gerrymandering. Rahul had alleged that the proposed delimitation exercise had “nothing to do” with implementing the 33% women’s reservation, calling it an “attempted power grab” through the redrawing of constituencies.

Opposition had been demanding immediate implementation of the Act ever since it was passed in the parliament in 2023, but Modi government had deferred saying the act will be implemented post-2026 Census and delimitation thereafter. Now he has appealed the opposition to support his moves, while opposition is in no mood to support him now to change the political map of the country in the name of women.

Before the special session began, PM Modi posted on X, “Starting today, in the special session of Parliament, our country is all set to take a historic step towards women’s empowerment. The respect for our mothers and sisters is the respect for the nation, and with this very spirit, we are moving forward resolutely in this direction.”

Union Minister of Law Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Constitution 131st Amendment Bill, 2026 which seeks to amend the Constitution of India and to implement Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023, and the Delimitation Bill, 2026. The Union Minister of Home Amit Shah introduced the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha, which seeks to amend the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

The Congress MP Hibi Eden and DMK Parliamentary Party leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi moved motions to oppose the amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in the Lok Sabha. The opposition has raised concerns over the proposed changes, particularly the plan to redraw constituencies and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from the current 543 to a maximum of 850.

Opposition slammed the Modi government over the introduction of these three legislations, particularly the delimitation bill. Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, DMK, AIMIM, RSP, CPIM raised several objections in the Parliament.

Nothing much happened in the Rajya Sabha because the House was adjourned until April 17, 11 AM after oath-taking, obituary references. Opposition has announced that they will boycott the election of the Deputy Chairman scheduled on April 17. Opposition has pointed out that Modi government has not appointed Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha for the last 7 years, which has never happened before. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has said that never before has a person nominated by the President to the Rajya Sabha been considered for the post of its Deputy Chairman.

The focus is therefore on the proceedings in the Lok Sabha, in which the fate of the country will be decided within three days, where government is seeking to redraw electoral map of India through the three interlinked legislations.

INDIA bloc is supporting women’s reservation bill but it opposed the proposed delimitation exercise. Congress MP Karti Chidambaram has said that INDIA bloc would vote against the delimitation-related proposal, asserting that the government may not have sufficient numbers to pass it.

“The timing of the Parliament session itself is very devious. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are yet to go to the polls, and we are in the middle of an election campaign. In order to disrupt the campaign of the principal political parties in these states, which are clearly opposed to the BJP, the government has convened a Parliament session on the 16th, 17th, and 18th. This clearly reflects the government’s underhanded agenda,” Karti Chidambaram alleged.

Participating in the debate Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned the Centre’s urgency, “Why is the Centre rushing for women’s reservation? Start with the Census first.” He supported the women’s reservation but opposed its implementation through delimitation that too the manner in which government wants. He said, “”They are delaying the census because when it happens, we will ask for the caste-based census, and they don’t want it.”

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “The Census process has already started across the country, and after that, we will also conduct a caste-based census.”

Congress MP KC Venugopal opposed all three legislations and formally recorded the party’s objections in the House. He said, “The government wants to completely hijack the Constitution.”Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has said, “Don not link women’s quota to delimitation.”

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said, “The opposition does not come prepared for debates … and their object is to oppose for the sake of opposing.” He referred opposition of the government’s moves in Tamil Nadu and said, “Today, they are out there in Tamil Nadu doing drama by burning a constitutional amendment bill. Let there be a limit to your hypocrisy. Let there be a limit to the hypocrisy of the DMK now.”

It will not out of place to mention here that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has intensified his opposition to the Centre’s proposed delimitation exercise by symbolically burning a copy of the delimitation bill and raising a black flag as part of a protest he has called for. He wrote on X, “Let the flames of resistance spread across Tamil Nadu! Let the arrogance of the fascist BJP be brought down! … This fire will now spread across the Dravidian land. It will rise, it will rage, and it will bring the BJP’s arrogance to its knees.”

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said, “The issue is very simple. The government has a plan to redelimit the constituencies and increase the number of seats in areas where the ruling party is strong. They are using women’s reservation as an excuse to bring about that change by trying to amend the constitutional amendments that they had already brought in 2023.”

Nevertheless, PM Narendra Modi said in the Lok Sabha, “Those opposing quota won’t be forgiven by women. …Women’s reservation is not in favour of any party …no need to give it political colour.” PM Modi, however, admitted that everyone urged for the women’s reservation to be taken up in 2023-24 itself, but adding that “it wasn’t possible due to time constraint … we shouldn’t delay it further.” He also said, “Irrespective of who is responsible, we have already delayed women’s reservation enough.”

PM Modi also referred to Tamil Nadu and said “If you want me to use the words “guarantee” or “promise”, I shall do it. If there is any apt word in Tamil, will use that as well. When the intent is pure, there is no need to play the game of words.” He also said, “It is obvious that I will benefit from it politically.” However, if women’s reservation is not done even after almost three decades of delay, the benefit will slip away from all parties and people. (IPA Service)