New Delhi, Apr 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged the opposition not to give a political colour to the government’s bills for implementation of the women’s reservation law and cautioned that they should be mindful that those who had opposed this in the past had suffered badly in elections.

Allaying fears on delimitation, he assured that no injustice will be done to any state – from east to west and north to south.

Intervening in the debate in Lok Sabha on the three bills moved to amend the women’s quota law and set up a delimitation commission, Modi said if all sides support the bills, it will not go in favour of politics of any one side but would be in favour of the country.

“Since women’s reservation came into discussion, those who opposed this in the past, were not forgiven by the women of the country and they ended up badly in the elections that followed,” Modi said.

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to tweak the women’s quota law was introduced in Lok Sabha on Thursday after a division of votes.

Two ordinary bills — the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill to implement the proposed amended women’s quota law in Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir — were also introduced in the House.

In his remarks, Modi said there is no need to give political colour to the issue of women reservation in legislatures.

“Let us all MPs not miss this important opportunity to give reservation to women,” the prime minister said.

In India’s development journey, MPs have got an opportunity to make women part of decision making, he said.

“I have come to appeal to you that do not see this from a political lens, this is a decision in national interest,” Modi said.

Earlier, the Bills were introduced after a fiery 40-minute debate following which the opposition pressed for the division of votes to introduce the Constitutional (131st Amendment) Bill.

The Bill was later introduced with 251 members supporting it and 185 members voting against the introduction.

New Delhi, Apr 16: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that Muslims will not be given reservation on the basis of religion as such a quota would be unconstitutional.

During a fiery 40-minute debate, following which three bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha for amendment of the women’s quota law and to set up a delimitation commission, Shah said a caste census will be carried out along with population enumeration during the ongoing census exercise.

“The question of providing reservation to Muslim women on the basis of religion does not even arise. Our Constitution does not allow at all to give reservation on the basis of religion. I want to make it clear our government’s resolve that Muslims will not be given reservation on the basis of religion. Such reservation is unconstitutional,” a combative Shah said after the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav and Dharmendra Yadav spoke in favour of giving a quota to Muslims.

The home minister said the Samajwadi Party members were saying that they would place the demand for a caste census but he would like to inform them that the government had already taken a decision to carry out the caste census and it would be carried out along with the population enumeration.

“Right now, the counting of households is underway and the households do not have any caste. If the Samajwadi Party had its way, they would determine the caste of households as well,” he said.

Shah also said “if the Samajwadi Party gives all its tickets to Muslim women, where do we have any objection, we have no objections at all”.

He said that during the population enumeration, the census authorities would keep a provision for caste enumeration, “which I personally want too”.

“I want to make it clear that this census will be conducted along with caste enumeration,” the home minister said.

The houselisting under the census 2027 started on April 1. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on April 30 last year decided to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census. Caste was excluded from all census operations conducted since Independence.

The Lok Sabha on Thursday took up the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Delimitation Bill, 2026, for debate and passage.

As per the proposal, the strength of the Lok Sabha will be increased to 815, of which 272 seats will be reserved for women — a total of 33 per cent.

New Delhi, Apr 16: NDA leaders on Thursday defended bills to amend the women’s quota law and set up a delimitation commission, saying women have waited for years for reservation, while opposition leaders alleged the way the government was proceeding with it could undermine the country’s federal and democratic structure.

According to a bulletin issued on April 15, the ‘Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026’, ‘Delimitation Bill, 2026’ and ‘Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026’ will be introduced and debated for passage in the Lower House on Thursday.

The three-day sitting of Parliament, during which amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, commonly known as the Women’s Reservation Act, mandating 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, will be brought for passage so that it can be implemented by 2029.

BJP MP Giriraj Singh expressed confidence that the amendments to the Women’s Reservation Act for its early implementation will receive broad support in Parliament.

“I have full confidence that when they come to the House, they will develop sensitivity towards women. Women have been waiting for years, and now their patience is running out. This will be passed collectively,” Singh told reporters inside the Parliament House complex.

He rejected the opposition’s concerns on the delimitation exercise as unfounded.

“There will be no discrimination against anyone or any state. There will be no loss to the southern states and no one needs to worry,” he added.

BJP MP Sandhya Roy termed the move historic and said it would significantly boost women’s participation in governance.

“I believe everyone will support this Bill. It is a historic opportunity for women’s empowerment and a defining moment for the country. By 2029, women will have a strong share in the nation’s participation and progress,” she said.

According to the draft Constitution amendment bill, the number of Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.

Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women, and the seats reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies “shall be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a state or Union territory”, the draft bill circulated among Lok Sabha members said.

JD(U) MP Lovely Anand criticised the opposition for raising objections.

“Why is the opposition against delimitation when nothing has happened yet? This is in favour of women — half the population is finally getting its due. The opposition is worried because it sees the ground slipping beneath its feet,” she said.

Opposition leaders expressed concerns over the proposed delimitation exercise.

Congress leader K Suresh said his party supports women’s reservation, but opposes the delimitation plan linked to it.

“We are not against the women’s reservation bill. We are totally opposing the delimitation bill,” he said.

Congress MP Hibi Eden said he has moved a procedural notice against the proposal.

“We have given notice under the relevant rules of procedure to oppose this. The delimitation bill is a direct attack on the Constitution. It takes away the rights of southern states and is an attack on the cooperative federal structure of the country,” he said.

“There is concern over the proposed increase in seats and the imbalance it may create between northern and southern states. Proper discussion and consultation with state governments are needed,” he added.

“It also affects the democratic and secular nature of the country. Southern states have performed better in population control and delimitation based on population will penalise them,” Eden said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said his party supports reservation for women, but is opposed to the manner in which the government is proceeding with it.

“We are not against women’s reservation, but we oppose the haste and the way it is being brought. Without a fresh census, relying on 2011 data will not ensure accurate representation,” he said.

“If a census is conducted, there will be a demand for a caste census and appropriate reservation. This is not real empowerment but symbolism,” Yadav added.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant spoke in the same vein.

“We are not against women’s reservation, but we have reservations about the delimitation bill. There are concerns about how such exercises are carried out,” he said.

DMK MP T R Baalu said, “Yesterday, our leader M K Stalin burnt the draft Bill at a public rally in Salem, which shows that we have to oppose it.”

The total strength of the ruling NDA in the Lok Sabha stands at 292, while the major opposition parties have 233 MPs. For the Constitution amendment bill to be passed, it requires a two-thirds majority of those present in the House at the time of voting.

Chandigarh, Apr 16: The Punjab Police on Thursday claimed to have busted a terror module backed by Pakistan’s ISI with the arrest of one person and recovery of four hand grenades.

In a joint operation of the State Special Operations cells of Amritsar and Mohali, the Counter Intelligence Wing of the Punjab Police also recovered two foreign-made pistols along with ammunition, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused was acting on the instructions of foreign-based handlers and has links with the terror module involved in the recent grenade attack in Chandigarh, Yadav said in a post on X.

An FIR has been registered at Police Station State Special Operation Cell in Amritsar, the DGP said, adding that further investigation is underway to identify, track and apprehend other members of the module.