‘A very important bill’: Parliament to reconvene on April 16; what’s on the cards

New Delhi: The budget session of Parliament will reconvene on April 16 and is likely to pass a bill to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816.The government hopes to introduce at least two bills in this parliamentary session, including a constitutional amendment to reserve one-third of seats for women in the next Lok Sabha polls and subsequent parliamentary elections.The move is expected to change the country’s political landscape and put an authoritative stamp on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-touted women’s empowerment agenda as assembly campaigns in four states gather pace. If the government gets its way, the number of seats in the Lok Sabha will increase by 50% from the existing 543 to 816, with the additional 273 seats reserved for women to ensure that the existing political dynamics and the current members (who are overwhelmingly male) are not diluted by the establishment of a reorganized order. Therefore, the majority score will move to 409.Both houses will reconvene for two to three days to discuss the proposed legislation, news agency PTI reported.Speaking in the House of Federation on Thursday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the House of Representatives would meet again soon to consider a key piece of legislation.“We have certain bills and important issues and we have shared this with the opposition as well. We will have a very important bill in the next two to three weeks,” Rigiju said.The strength of the Lok Sabha is set to increase for the first time in more than five decades. The strength of the Federal Chamber and the state legislative councils will not be affected. At least two bills will be introduced, one on delimitation and another on constitutional amendments, which require the support of two-thirds of both houses.Although the ruling NDA itself does not have the strength to ensure the passage of the bill, the government seems keen to push for its passage during the budget session that ends on April 4. Failing that, it could consider convening a short meeting specifically on women’s quotas.Home Minister Amit Shah is spearheading support for the two bills and held two meetings on Monday, one with regional parties outside the NDA group, which includes opposition parties and parties not aligned with either group (NDA or India Bloc), and another with allies of the BJP.