Lok Sabha's strength to go up to 815, 272 of these for women; no state will suffer: Meghwal

The strength of the Lok Sabha will be increased to 815, of which 272 seats will be reserved for women, and neither men nor any state will suffer any loss due to the implementation of this quota, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Thursday.

In his introductory remarks in the Lok Sabha on the three bills moved to amend the women's quota law and set up a delimitation commission, Meghwal also said that 272 seats out of 815 in the House is the simple formula of reserving 33 per cent seats for women.

"According to the women's reservation bill, the strength of the Lok Sabha will be increased to 815, of which women's quota will be of 272 seats," the minister said.

According to the proposed legislations, there will be an increase of 50 per cent in the current strength of the Lok Sabha.

"Neither men nor any state will suffer any loss after the implementation of the women's quota," he said.

Meghwal also said that there will be reservation for women belonging to SC and ST categories within the women's quota in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

The minister said if the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhniyam, 2023, continues in its present form, reservation of constituencies for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies would not be possible in 2029 as it would be based on the census data which would be made available after 2026. Hence, the Constitution amendment bill was brought.

"The main objective of the bill is to give women their due rights," he said.

Meghwal said the world over, the right of equal franchise for equal voting rights for women was introduced much later as compared to India.

Women in the United States were given voting rights 144 years after men and the women in the United Kingdom were given voting rights with certain conditions in 1918 and fully only 10 years later in 1928, he said.

"In India, women got the right to vote along with men since the first election," he said.

Meghwal appealed to all parties and members to support the bill wholeheartedly and pass it in the House.

The Lok Sabha on Thursday took up the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Delimitation Bill, 2026, for debate and passage.

The Bills were introduced after a fiery 40-minute debate, following which the opposition pressed for a division of votes to introduce the Constitutional (131st Amendment) Bill.

The Bill was later introduced with 251 members supporting it and 185 members voting against the introduction.

According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to "operationalise" the Women's Reservation Law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.

Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.

The seats reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies "shall be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a state or Union territory", the draft bill circulated among Lok Sabha members said.

Several opposition parties on Wednesday decided to unitedly vote against the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament, while asserting that they are not against reservation for women in legislative bodies.