Updated: April 17, 2026 11:03:01 am IST
Parliament special session LIVE: Voting on all three bills will take place in the Lok Sabha today at 4 pm. (ANI photo/Rahul Singh)
Decision on three major bills including increasing the quota of women and increasing the number of seats in Parliament will be taken today at 4 pm. Lok SabhaBut only after several hours of debate. Three bills introduced Parliament The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday; Union Territory Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026; and this delimitation bill2026. These bills propose to increase the size of the Lok Sabha, enable delimitation based on the 2011 census, and allow the implementation of reservation for women on the basis of this delimitation. The Union Territory Law Bill provides similar provisions for Puducherry, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir.
Read this also Law Minister says Lok Sabha seats in all states will be increased by 50%; 272 reserved for women
Lok Sabha held a 12-hour marathon session to discuss amendments to the Women’s Reservation Bill, including removing the requirement to implement the law only after a fresh census is conducted. According to the final division, out of total 333 votes, 251 members voted in favor and 185 members voted against. With this majority, all three bills including the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026 were introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Why are the southern states refusing to accept the bill?
Several DMK and Congress MPs have also alleged that the bill would have an adverse impact on southern states if passed in its current form. Leaders like Manickam Tagore and A Raja have argued that states like Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala may not see a proportionate increase in seats compared to the northern states.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah tried to allay concerns raised by opposition members about the southern states losing influence due to the increase in seats. He said that while the seats will increase by about 50%, the relative share of southern states in the total seats will also increase.
The debate lasted for 12 hours
Center and opposition debated the bills throughout the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi He appealed to the opposition parties to support them, saying that opposing the bills would only give them political benefits.
Read this also Lok Sabha is set to vote on important bills, so attendance is in focus
Congress said that this bill is against the integrity of the country, while AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi strongly opposed the introduction of Women’s Reservation Bill and Delimitation Bill. He said that if these bills become law, “the voice of the opposition will become zero in this House.”
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also criticized the BJP-led government, alleging that it was delaying the caste-based census as conducting it would require releasing data and implementing caste-based reservation for backward communities.
“The Samajwadi Party is in favor of the Women’s Reservation Bill. We have always worked towards women empowerment. But the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to turn women into a slogan. The BJP should answer: How many of the 21 states in which it is in government have women chief ministers? Even your Delhi CM does not have full powers; she is a ‘half chief minister’. Why is there such a hurry?” he asked.
…read more
Read this also Law Minister says Lok Sabha seats in all states will be increased by 50%; 272 reserved for women
Lok Sabha held a 12-hour marathon session to discuss amendments to the Women’s Reservation Bill, including removing the requirement to implement the law only after a fresh census is conducted. According to the final division, out of total 333 votes, 251 members voted in favor and 185 members voted against. With this majority, all three bills including the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026 were introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Why are the southern states refusing to accept the bill?
Several DMK and Congress MPs have also alleged that the bill would have an adverse impact on southern states if passed in its current form. Leaders like Manickam Tagore and A Raja have argued that states like Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala may not see a proportionate increase in seats compared to the northern states.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah tried to allay concerns raised by opposition members about the southern states losing influence due to the increase in seats. He said that while the seats will increase by about 50%, the relative share of southern states in the total seats will also increase.
The debate lasted for 12 hours
Center and opposition debated the bills throughout the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi He appealed to the opposition parties to support them, saying that opposing the bills would only give them political benefits.
Read this also Lok Sabha is set to vote on important bills, so attendance is in focus
Congress said that this bill is against the integrity of the country, while AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi strongly opposed the introduction of Women’s Reservation Bill and Delimitation Bill. He said that if these bills become law, “the voice of the opposition will become zero in this House.”
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also criticized the BJP-led government, alleging that it was delaying the caste-based census as conducting it would require releasing data and implementing caste-based reservation for backward communities.
“The Samajwadi Party is in favor of the Women’s Reservation Bill. We have always worked towards women empowerment. But the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to turn women into a slogan. The BJP should answer: How many of the 21 states in which it is in government have women chief ministers? Even your Delhi CM does not have full powers; she is a ‘half chief minister’. Why is there such a hurry?” he asked.
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April 17, 2026 11:01:22 am First
Parliament special session LIVE: Proceedings begin in Lok Sabha
Special session of Parliament live: What to expect on day two?
1. There will be a full house in the Lok Sabha today because voting is to be held on the bills today.
2. Hectic debate will continue on seat expansion and women’s quota bill.
3. Voting on three major bills today at 4 pm
April 17, 2026 10:55:39 am First
Special session of Parliament live: India Bloc leaders meet before the session
Special session of Parliament LIVE: India Bloc MPs met at 10 am today to discuss strategy ahead of the start of the second day of Lok Sabha discussion on the Women’s Quota Bill and amendments to the Delimitation Bill. (Photo: Special arrangement)
April 17, 2026 10:48:07 am First
Special session of Parliament LIVE: Telangana MPs protest
Parliament special session live: Non-BJP MPs from Telangana protested in the Parliament complex on Friday before the session began and demanded an apology from the Bharatiya Janata Party for ‘insulting’ the state. The MPs held posters saying ‘BJP should apologise’ and ‘BJP should respect the people of Telangana’ and raised slogans ‘Respect Telangana’.
April 17, 2026 10:40:23 am First
Special session of Parliament LIVE: ‘Delimitation was cleverly brought in the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill’, said Tejashwi Yadav
Parliament Special Session LIVE: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav criticized the government and the Delimitation Bill, saying it wants to destroy the Constitution and democracy. He further said that BJP and RSS want to implement their agenda.
“Delimitation has been brought in very cleverly. Both are different things. Women’s reservation was passed earlier and was passed unanimously. Our demand was that 50% reservation should be given, but OBC women should also be given reservation. But it did not happen. After passing it, the government says that it will be implemented in 2034. If this is what was to be done then why was it not done earlier? The real issue is of delimitation; women’s reservation is being brought forward just for show. They want Are.” To destroy the Constitution and democracy, that’s why they are doing this, RSS, BJP want to impose their agenda, we are opposing it.” (ANI)
April 17, 2026 10:11:20 am First
Special session of Parliament live: BJP leader said, we will take back PoK after the delimitation bill is passed
Parliament special session live: BJP leader Bura Narsaiah Gaur says one of the key features of the delimitation bill is the allocation of seats in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This bill will enable PoK to exercise the right to vote and their representatives will be able to participate in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. (ANI)
April 17, 2026 9:57:34 am First
Special session of Parliament LIVE: India Bloc MPs meet to prepare floor strategy on Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill
Special session of Parliament live: India Bloc MPs are scheduled to meet in the chamber of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament at 10 am on Friday to prepare a strategy on the floor of the House.
This comes as the Lok Sabha today is set to continue discussion and voting on the passage of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, which provides 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures, as well as the Union Territory Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 extending it to Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, and the Delimitation Bill, which sets out to enlarge and redraw the Lok Sabha constituencies, enlarging them. 850. (ANI)
April 17, 2026 9:39:58 am First
Special session of Parliament live: Despite increase in seats, South’s share remains close to 24%
Parliament Special Session Live: Southern states currently have 129 seats (23.76%) out of 543. After delimitation, it increased to 195 (23.87%) out of 816 seats, i.e. there was no reduction in the share.
State-wise: Home Minister Amit Shah said Karnataka increased from 28 to 42 seats, Andhra Pradesh from 25 to 38, Telangana from 17 to 26, Tamil Nadu from 39 to 59 and Kerala from 20 to 30.
The remaining 621 seats out of the total 816 will be distributed among other states, mainly in North India.
April 17, 2026 9:26:33 am First
Special session of Parliament LIVE: What happened on the first day?
Special session of Parliament LIVE: Lok Sabha held a 12-hour marathon session to deliberate on amendments to the Women’s Reservation Bill on the first day of the session.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah took part in this debate. Opposition leaders like Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress leader KC Venugopal also took part in the discussion.
The Congress urged the government to withdraw the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 in its present form and call an all-party meeting to build consensus.
Owaisi alleged that “if these bills become law, the voice of the opposition will become zero in this House.”
Meanwhile, several DMK and Congress MPs argued that the southern states would be adversely affected if the bill is passed in its current form.
Shah sought to allay these concerns by saying that while the seats would increase by about 50%, the relative share of southern states in the total seats would also increase.
April 17, 2026 9:05:30 am First
Special session of Parliament live: Lok Sabha will consider amendments in Delimitation Bill, Women’s Reservation Bill today
Special session of Parliament LIVE: Lok Sabha will continue its discussion on Friday and vote on the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, which proposes 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures. It will also consider the Union Territory Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which extends the provision to Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, and the Delimitation Bill, which seeks to redraw constituencies and expand the strength of the Lok Sabha to 850.
