New Delhi:The BJP-led NDA government "willing" to bring two bills in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament to ensure that the women's reservation law, that provides 33 per cent quota for women, is implemented before the completion of the delimitation exercise for Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies, reported PTI, citing sources.

The provision to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution in 2023, but it will come into effect after the completion of the delimitation exercise, i.e. 2029.

According to the broad contours available, the number of Lok Sabha seats would be increased from the present 543 to 816, with 273 seats reserved for women. The reservation will also be done in a "vertical basis" with seats allocated for SCs and STs.

A similar exercise will be carried out for state assemblies where seats will be reserved on a pro-rata basis.

Centre Prepares 2 Bill, Amit Shah Hold Separate Meetings

Union Home Minister Amit Shah held separate meetings with NDA and non-Congress opposition parties' floor leaders to arrive at a consensus. If the consensus is reached, the two bills could be brought as early as this week, the report said.

P V Midhun Reddy (YSRCP), Dimple Yadav (SP), Supriya Sule (NCP-SP), Manoj Jha (RJD) and Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) were among the opposition leaders who attended the meet, the report said. Amit Shah is likely to hold meetings with the Congress party too.

While a Constitution amendment bill will tweak the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, commonly known as women's reservation law, another ordinary bill will amend the Delimitation Act.

The sources also underlined that a delimitation or boundary commission is a "neutral" body mandated to redraw Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies, and its decisions cannot be challenged even in the Supreme Court.

In September 2023, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill. The law is officially known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act.

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