The Long March to Representation, Women’s Reservation and the Unfinished Journey
In September 2023, the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandana Adhinayam (Constitution One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment Act) was celebrated as a historic moment. After nearly three decades of stalled attempts, Parliament had finally passed legislation reserving one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Delhi legislative assembly. Political leaders across the aisle hailed it as a triumph for gender justice. The Prime Minister called it a “landmark moment in our democratic journey.” Opposition parties, despite their reservations about the timing and the linkage to census and delimitation, voted unanimously in support. The women of India, it seemed, had finally been given their due.
Yet, nearly three years later, the celebratory rhetoric rings hollow. The law has not yet been implemented. The census, on which delimitation depends, has barely begun after repeated delays. The government is now proposing a 50 per cent expansion in the size of the Lok Sabha (from 543 seats to 816) and state assemblies to accommodate the 33 per cent commitment—a constitutional and logistical exercise of immense complexity. Meanwhile, the ground reality of women’s political representation remains abysmal. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, only 14.4 per cent of state parties’ candidates and 11.8 per cent of national parties’ candidates were women. Around 27.6 per cent of Lok Sabha constituencies had zero women candidates. According to a recent report by the Association for Democratic Reforms, among 4,666 MPs and MLAs across the country, only 464 are women—barely 10 per cent. The journey to 33 per cent representation is not just arduous; it is beginning to look like an exercise in political procrastination.
The Backstory: From the National Movement to the 73rd and 74th Amendments
The demand for women’s reservation in India did not begin in 2023. It has been a continuous dialogue going back to the national movement. In 1931, Begum Shah Nawaz and Sarojini Naidu wrote a letter to the British Prime Minister in which they declared: “To seek any form of preferential treatment would be to violate the integrity of the universal demand of Indian women for absolute equality of political status.” They were clear that they did not seek special treatment; they sought equal treatment. Similarly, in 1947, freedom fighter Renuka Ray expressed the confidence that “when the men who have fought and struggled for their country’s freedom came to power, the rights and liberties of women, too, would be guaranteed.” Women’s reservation was raised in the Constituent Assembly debates but was deemed unnecessary, as the Constitution already guaranteed equal rights to all citizens regardless of gender.
In the following decades, however, it became painfully clear that formal equality had not translated into substantive representation. In 1951, only 5 per cent of MPs elected were women. By 2024, despite decades of economic growth, social change, and educational advancement for women, the figure stood at a mere 14 per cent. The space for women in political decision-making had shrunk, not expanded.
The turning point came in the 1970s. The Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI), established in 1971 and headed by Phulrenu Guha, produced a landmark report in 1974 titled “Towards Equality.” It revealed declining sex ratios, limited educational access for girls, and the marginalised economic status of women. The report strongly influenced subsequent policy to promote gender equality. A decade later, in 1989, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi introduced a constitutional amendment Bill to reserve one-third of seats in local bodies for women. It failed in the Rajya Sabha.
But the idea did not die. In 1992 and 1993, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments were passed, mandating reservation for women in panchayats and municipalities. Today, more than 14.5 lakh women serve as elected representatives in local bodies across India. This is the largest experiment in women’s political representation anywhere in the world. It has transformed the face of local governance, brought issues like water, sanitation, health, and education to the forefront, and empowered a generation of women leaders at the grassroots.
Yet, the step from local bodies to Parliament and state assemblies proved impossible to take for decades. Attempts were made in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2008. Each time, the Bill lapsed due to lack of consensus, political opposition, or the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. The opposition came from unexpected quarters: some parties argued that reservation should include sub-quotas for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and minorities within the women’s quota. Others argued that reservation would benefit only elite, educated, upper-caste women, not the vast majority of marginalised women. These arguments, while not without merit, served primarily as delaying tactics. The women’s reservation Bill became a political football, kicked around for decades without ever reaching the goal.
The 2023 Breakthrough: Nari Shakti Vandana Adhinayam
The passage of the Nari Shakti Vandana Adhinayam in September 2023 was, on paper, a breakthrough. The Bill reserved 33 per cent of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Delhi legislative assembly. It provided for rotation of reserved constituencies, ensuring that different constituencies would be reserved for women in each election. It was passed unanimously by both Houses of Parliament, with all major parties supporting it.
But even as they voted in favour, opposition parties raised serious concerns. The Bill was introduced just months before the 2024 general election, leading to accusations that the ruling BJP was seeking political mileage rather than genuine reform. More substantively, the Bill linked the implementation of women’s reservation to two prior conditions: a fresh census and the subsequent delimitation exercise (redrawing of constituency boundaries). Without these, the reservation would not come into effect. The opposition argued that this linkage was a deliberate delaying tactic, as the census had already been postponed multiple times and delimitation is a complex, time-consuming process.
The government’s response was that delimitation was necessary to ensure that the reserved seats could be distributed fairly across states and regions. There is technical merit to this argument. However, the practical effect is that the law passed in 2023 will not be implemented before the 2029 general election at the earliest—and possibly much later.
The Current Bind: Census, Delimitation, and Expansion
The NDA government now finds itself in a bind. The census process has barely begun after several delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, administrative hurdles, and political disagreements over its methodology. Delimitation, which requires fresh census data, will not be completed before the 2029 election. The government is now proposing a radical solution: a 50 per cent expansion in the size of the Lok Sabha (from 543 seats to 816) and a corresponding expansion in state assemblies. The logic is that a larger house will make it easier to accommodate the 33 per cent reservation for women without reducing the existing representation of other groups.
This proposal, however, raises its own set of complex questions. Expanding the Lok Sabha to 816 seats requires a constitutional amendment (Article 81, which caps the number of Lok Sabha seats). It requires a fresh delimitation exercise across all states. It raises questions about the federal balance, as states with better population control might see their representation reduced. And it delays the implementation of women’s reservation even further, as the expanded house would then need to be delimited, and then the reserved seats identified.
The decision to extend the budget session to discuss and pass the necessary legislation has once again led to questions about timing. As has been the case whenever important legislation is introduced, the opposition was not taken into confidence. Individual parties were approached only through unofficial channels. Even now, all information that is shared comes via sources or media leaks. The INDIA bloc has asked for an all-party meeting to understand what the government is proposing and how it plans to implement the reservation before presenting the amended Bill in Parliament. The government has not heeded this request and has announced, through sources, the proposed dates to discuss and pass the legislation: April 16 to 18, in the middle of five elections and just before West Bengal and Tamil Nadu vote.
The Political Catch-22 for the Opposition
This pattern again shows that the BJP does not believe in consultations to build consensus. However, for opposition parties, the current situation is a classic catch-22. If they question the government’s intent and the timing of the legislation, the BJP will be able to build a narrative that the opposition is against women’s reservation—a politically toxic charge. If they agree to the government’s proposals without adequate scrutiny, they will be seen as submissive, failing in their constitutional duty to hold the executive accountable.
The opposition’s dilemma is real. The women’s reservation law is widely popular. No party wants to be seen as obstructing it. But the manner of its implementation—through back-channel negotiations, without all-party consultations, in the middle of elections, with major constitutional changes proposed without debate—is deeply problematic. The substance of the reform is being overshadowed by the process of its imposition.
The Ground Reality: Tokenism or Transformation?
Even as the political class debates the timing and modalities of reservation, the ground reality of women’s political representation remains dire. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, only 14.4 per cent of state parties’ candidates and 11.8 per cent of national parties’ candidates were women. Around 27.6 per cent of Lok Sabha constituencies had zero women candidates. The major political parties, which unanimously supported the reservation law in Parliament, continue to field minuscule numbers of women in actual elections.
The recent state elections offer a similar picture. In Kerala, which has 140 constituencies, the CPI(M) fielded 12 women candidates, the Congress nine, the BJP 14, and the CPI five. The IUML allotted two seats to women—for the first time. In West Bengal, the ruling TMC has 52 women in its list of 291 candidates—a respectable 18 per cent, but still far short of 33 per cent. In Tamil Nadu, the DMK allocated 18 of 164 seats to women (11 per cent) and the AIADMK 20 of 167 (12 per cent).
These numbers reveal a profound disconnect between political rhetoric and political practice. Parties support reservation in principle because it is electorally popular. But they resist fielding women candidates in practice because they fear that women will not win, or because their internal power structures are dominated by men who are unwilling to cede space. The result is that the burden of increasing women’s representation is shifted from political parties (who should be fielding more women candidates voluntarily) to a constitutional mandate (which forces them to do so).
The Way Forward: Redeeming the Collective Promise
The women’s reservation law was passed with historic, unanimous support. That support was not the gift of any single party; it was the expression of a collective political will, built over decades of struggle by women’s movements, activists, and visionary leaders across the political spectrum. As the writer, a former Rajya Sabha MP from Shiv Sena (UBT), reminds us: “The women of the country have waited for decades. Together, we were part of the historic support for the reservation law. The BJP and its allies cannot walk away with all the credit for tweaking the Act. It is time to let the women of the country know that support for representation was our collective promise. And it is time we redeemed our pledge.”
How can this pledge be redeemed? Several steps are urgently needed:
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Transparent consultation: The government must call an all-party meeting to discuss the implementation modalities, including the proposed expansion of the Lok Sabha and the timeline for delimitation. No major constitutional change should be made without broad political consensus.
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Clear timeline: The government should commit to a specific, binding timeline for completing the census, delimitation, and the first election under the reserved regime. The current ambiguity serves only to erode trust.
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Voluntary action by parties: Even before the constitutional mandate kicks in, political parties should voluntarily increase the proportion of women candidates. The 33 per cent target should be treated as a floor, not a ceiling.
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Internal party reforms: Parties should adopt internal quotas for women in party positions, candidate selection committees, and decision-making bodies. The pipeline of women leaders must be built at every level, from the booth to the ballot.
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Support for elected women: Once elected, women representatives need institutional support—training, resources, protection from harassment, and access to decision-making power. Reservation without empowerment is tokenism.
Conclusion: The Unfinished Journey
The women’s reservation journey is a testament to the resilience of India’s democratic institutions—and also to their frustrating slowness. From Begum Shah Nawaz and Sarojini Naidu in 1931 to the women MPs who unanimously passed the 2023 law, generations of women have fought for a seat at the table. The law has been passed. But the journey is far from over. Implementation remains the hardest part.
The government’s current proposals—expanding the Lok Sabha to 816 seats, rushing legislation through in the middle of elections, bypassing all-party consultations—risk turning a historic reform into a political spectacle. The women of India deserve better. They deserve a transparent, consultative, and time-bound process that delivers on the promise of 33 per cent representation. They have waited long enough. It is time to redeem the collective pledge.
Q&A: The Women’s Reservation Bill and Its Implementation
Q1: What is the Nari Shakti Vandana Adhinayam, and when was it passed?
A1: The Nari Shakti Vandana Adhinayam (Constitution One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment Act) was passed unanimously by both Houses of Parliament in September 2023. It reserves 33 per cent of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Delhi legislative assembly. The law provides for rotation of reserved constituencies, meaning different constituencies will be reserved for women in each election. However, the implementation of the law is linked to two prior conditions: a fresh census and the subsequent delimitation (redrawing of constituency boundaries). As of 2026, the census has barely begun after repeated delays, and delimitation has not been completed, meaning the law has not yet been implemented. The earliest possible implementation is the 2029 general election.
Q2: What is the historical background of the demand for women’s reservation in India?
A2: The demand for women’s reservation dates back to the national movement. In 1931, Begum Shah Nawaz and Sarojini Naidu wrote to the British Prime Minister, arguing against preferential treatment and for absolute equality of political status. In 1947, Renuka Ray expressed confidence that independent India would guarantee women’s rights. The Constituent Assembly debated reservation but deemed it unnecessary, as equal rights were guaranteed. In the following decades, however, representation remained abysmally low (5% in 1951, 14% in 2024). The 1974 “Towards Equality” report by the Committee on the Status of Women revealed stark gender disparities. In 1989, Rajiv Gandhi introduced a reservation Bill for local bodies, which failed. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992/93) successfully reserved seats for women in panchayats and municipalities, leading to over 14.5 lakh women elected representatives today. Attempts to reserve seats in Parliament and state assemblies were made in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2008, but all lapsed.
Q3: Why has the 2023 law not been implemented yet, and what is the government’s current proposal to enable implementation?
A3: The 2023 law links implementation to two prior conditions: a fresh census and subsequent delimitation. The census has been delayed repeatedly (due to COVID-19, administrative hurdles, and political disagreements). Delimitation cannot begin without fresh census data. The government is now proposing a 50% expansion in the size of the Lok Sabha (from 543 seats to 816 seats) and a corresponding expansion in state assemblies. The logic is that a larger house will make it easier to accommodate 33% reservation for women without reducing existing representation of other groups. However, this proposal requires its own constitutional amendment (to Article 81, which caps Lok Sabha seats), a fresh delimitation exercise, and further delays. The government has announced plans to discuss and pass the necessary legislation on April 16-18, 2026, during an extended budget session and in the middle of five state elections.
Q4: What is the political catch-22 facing opposition parties regarding the women’s reservation legislation?
A4: Opposition parties face a classic double bind. If they question the government’s intent and the timing of the legislation (rushing it through during elections, without all-party consultations, with major constitutional changes proposed without debate), the ruling BJP can build a narrative that the opposition is against women’s reservation—a politically toxic charge, as the law is widely popular. If they agree to the government’s proposals without adequate scrutiny, they will be seen as submissive, failing in their constitutional duty to hold the executive accountable. The INDIA bloc has requested an all-party meeting to understand the government’s proposals, but the government has not heeded this request, instead announcing through media leaks the dates for discussion and passage. The opposition must balance supporting substantive reform with opposing a flawed process.
Q5: What does the ground reality of women’s political representation look like, despite the passage of the reservation law?
A5: The ground reality remains abysmal. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, only 14.4% of state parties’ candidates and 11.8% of national parties’ candidates were women. Around 27.6% of Lok Sabha constituencies had zero women candidates. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, among 4,666 MPs and MLAs across India, only 464 are women—barely 10%. In recent state elections: Kerala (140 constituencies)—CPI(M) fielded 12 women, Congress 9, BJP 14, CPI 5; West Bengal (291 candidates)—TMC fielded 52 women (18%); Tamil Nadu—DMK allocated 18 of 164 seats (11%) and AIADMK 20 of 167 (12%). These numbers reveal a profound disconnect: parties support reservation in principle because it is electorally popular, but resist fielding women candidates in practice because of male-dominated internal power structures. The burden of increasing representation is being shifted from voluntary party action to a delayed constitutional mandate.
