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The Special Session of Parliament has begun its historic sitting for three days from Thursday the 16th of April 2026 to pass the women reservation bill along with raising the strength of Lok Sabha to 850 seats.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi who spoke on the bill at 3 pm described the proposed 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures as a “historic and game-changing” reform, asserting in the Lok Sabha that empowering women is central to building a developed India and should be seen as a matter of right rather than political charity.

‎“This is a historic opportunity to empower our Nari Shakti,” he said, adding that the country must move beyond the notion of “giving” representation to women. “We must not assume we are giving something to the Nari Shakti; this is their right,” the Prime Minister remarked, drawing emphasis on the need for structural reforms to ensure equitable participation.

‎”Women’s participation in our parliamentary democracy is not just about numbers, but a commitment to democratic values,” he said.

‎The Treasury Benches moved three key bills in the Lok Sabha namely the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, aimed at operationalising the Women’s Reservation framework; the Delimitation Bill, 2026; and the union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, marking what the government described as a comprehensive push to recalibrate India’s electoral architecture and governance framework.

‎Framing the Women’s Reservation Bill as part of a broader shift towards “Nari Shakti-led nation building,” the PM in his speech said the legislation represents an “honest effort to transform governance” by increasing women’s participation at the highest levels.

The attack from Congress was led by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who said the government is about to ‘finish off the democracy’ if these bills are passed.

Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on three bills Priyanka Gandhi asked why can’t the government give 33 per cent reservation to women on the current 543 seats of the Lok Sabha.

She said the bill talks of increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats to up to 850 — to be done by a delimitation commission on the basis of the 2011 Census data.

“This seems fine on the surface but the real meaning comes to the fore when one carefully reads it. It smells of politics,” the Congress leader said.

She said on reading the fine print, it shows that the three members of the delimitation commission will decide the fate of the states and their representation in Parliament.

“The government began finishing off democracy by putting pressure on institutions, such as the Election Commission, the judiciary, the media etc., but now, an open attack on democracy is being launched,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

If this Constitution amendment bill is passed in Parliament, democracy will be finished in India, she added.

While Taking a swipe at Modi she said it seems from the prime minister’s address that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a champion of women’s reservation.

“Any woman would tell you that women easily recognise those who try to mislead them,” she said and urged the BJP to be careful.

“In 2023, when this law was passed, the Congress supported it and today also, the Congress is strongly in support of women’s reservation. But the truth is that the debate is not on women’s reservation. The bill that the government has brought has changed the direction of the debate,” Priyanka Gandhi said and hit out at the BJP over the delimitation provisions in the bill.