NDA allies welcome move, some leaders uncertain

NEW new delhi: francis scott key constituents of the subject popular confederation (NDA) on Tuesday welcomed the proposed road map to implement the women’s reservation law even as some leaders raised concerns.The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill 2026 — to increase the number of seats to a maximum of 850 and reserve 33% seats for women in the Lok Sabha and UTs — and two bills to implement delimitation in the states and Union Territories were circulated among parliamentarians on Tuesday. The bills will be taken up in the special sitting of Parliament from April 16 to 18.The ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh made it clear that it had no apprehensions.“The delimitation has been long overdue insofar as Andhra Pradesh is concerned, as it was mentioned in AP Reorganisation Act. Right from the beginning, our party has been supporting the delimitation exercise and there is no change in our stand,” TDP spokesperson N Vijay Kumar said.With regard to the apprehensions over southern states losing their relative share in the Lok Sabha, Kumar said party president N Chandrababu Naidu was advocating population management over population control. “If that happens, there will be no scope for any apprehension that states with less population will be losing the benefits of delimitation,” the party spokesman said.However, a senior TDP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said significant ambiguities remain in the text of the bills. “The bill says that the seats will be increased according to the latest census but why does it not clearly say which one? The second ambiguity is that while it says that Parliament strength will increase to 815 and UTs to 35, why is there no indication of how many seats will increase in each state after delimitation?” the leader asked.The TDP leader also flagged the absence of a clear rotation mechanism for reserved constituencies. “Will a seat remain reserved for one term or two? There is no framework. Even the timeline is unclear — an earlier version spoke of a 15-year duration, but now there is silence,” the leader added, warning that the proposal might disadvantage regional parties.However, there is no move as of now to object to the bills formally.Similar concerns were voiced by a senior leader from the Janata Dal (United) (JDU). The leader argued that the bill posed “fundamental challenges”, particularly in socially complex states like Bihar.“In caste-dominated states, implementation will not be straightforward. It risks creating a quota within quota, a situation which could complicate existing social equations,” the leader said.“As discussions gather pace ahead of the upcoming special parliamentary session, the lack of clarity on key aspects — from census timelines to seat rotation — is likely to remain a sticking point within the ruling alliance,” the JD(U) leader quoted above said.ANYTHING ON RECORD?The Shiv Sena welcomed the bills. In a letter to the Prime Minister, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde said, “The proposed amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam are an important link in this chain of transformation. As a committed constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), I extend my full and unwavering support to this reform.”The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supported the proposed changes.AIADMK national spokesperson Kovai Sathyan said it was known 25 years ago that delimitation will happen in 2026 and the new Parliament has capacity to accommodate 1,000 MPs.“Stalin is desperate and building a narrative just because elections are a week away and he feels that narrative will help him to garner some votes. That is not going to happen as people are fed up with the corrupt DMK government,” he said.He also questioned that why the DMK MPs did not raise the delimitation issue in Parliament. “DMK is not interested in raising the issue in Parliament and just want to pedal fake narrative for elections,” he said.