New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Thursday witnessed a showdown between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Opposition
leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav and Gaurav Gogoi. Both sides traded barbs at each other, setting up the tone for the remainder of the special Parliament session. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the three bills—the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026; the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. According to the draft Constitution Amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls. Voting on the three bills in Lok Sabha to amend the women's quota law and set up a delimitation commission will be held at 4 PM Friday. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said there would be a debate of around 15-18 hours on the bills as voting would take place on 4 PM on Friday.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju suggested a 12-hour debate on the bills but said the decision to extend that would be taken by the Speaker. The Lower House voted on the introduction of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, with 207 MPs voting in favour of the bill, while 126 opposed the introduction of the bill. The three-day Parliament session will conclude on April 18. Parliament Special Session 2026 Live:
Who Said What:
Amit Shah: When questioned about the government's motive of bringing the Delimitation Bill before the completion of the census process, Shah said, "The Census process has already started across the country, and after that, we will also conduct a caste-based census. Currently, the House Listing is underway; homes don't belong to a certain caste."
Trageting the Samajwadi Party, the Union Home Minister said, "If SP has its way, it will designate a caste to homes also. I want to assure the House that the census is going to happen with the caste census as well."
The Union Home Minister also asserted that a reservation based on religion is not permissible under the Constitution. "Based on religion, reservation of any kind for Muslims is unconstitutional," Shah said.
Arjun Meghwal: Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said in the Lok Sabha that the time had come to implement the historic decision on women's reservation, as he opened the discussion on the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, along with the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws Amendment Bill.
Speaking during the session, Meghwal said the discussion was being held to ensure appropriate participation of women in legislative bodies. He added that although economic, social, and political justice were mentioned in the Preamble of the Constitution, earlier governments had not made sufficient efforts in that direction.
"This discussion is being held to ensure that women receive appropriate participation... the time has come to implement this historic decision," he said.
Kiren Rijiju: Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju indicated that the discussion on the three key bills could be extended beyond 12 hours. “The discussion will be held for 12 hours. The speaker should have the authority to extend the time for discussion. The voting on the bills will be done tomorrow," Rijiju said.
Akhilesh Yadav The Samajwadi chief, Akhilesh Yadav, questioned the Central government in bringing the three key bills in haste. He also alleged that the government brought the Women's Reservation Bill just to avoid a caste census. Slamming the BJP, the SP chief said that the party's parental organisation, RSS, does not believe in gender justice.
"Why is the government in a haste? They are in a hurry just to avoid a caste census. They don't want the census because then we will demand caste reservation," Yadav said.
Gaurav Gogoi: Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said the Central Government is using the Women's Reservation Bill introduced as a shield to implement delimitation. Gogoi said that the voting on the Women's Reservation Bill should be conducted on the present strength of the Lower House. "Women's reservation should be implemented on the current strength of the Lok Sabha -- 543; it must not be linked to delimitation," the Congress MP said.
"You are again and again creating hurdles for women's reservations. If you had listened to us in 2023, women's reservation would have been implemented in 2024. We are urging that women's reservation should not be linked with delimitation. If you do that, we will definitely support it. This bill is not for women's reservation, but it is for delimitation through the back door," said the Congress MP. He questioned the government about how it decided that the new Lok Sabha strength will be 850. "Has this number come from Nagpur?" Gogoi said.
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