New Delhi, Apr 2 The Budget Session of Parliament will reconvene on April 16 after a brief recess to pass bills to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816, enabling the implementation of the women's reservation law at the earliest, amidst the ongoing election season.
While the government is keen to pass the bills, including amending the 2023 Women's Reservation Bill (Nari Vandan Adhiniyam), the opposition has accused the Centre of attempting to rush amendments to gain political advantage in state elections.
Both Houses will reconvene on April 16, with sources indicating that the sessions are likely to last for three days to consider the proposed legislation. The government has reportedly informed the opposition parties that the Houses will meet for three days starting April 16.
Sources said that the bills for implementing the women's quota law are likely to be first brought to the Lok Sabha.
Earlier in the day, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, said that the House will meet again soon to consider a key legislation.
"We have certain bills and important issues, and we have shared this with the opposition also. We are going to have a very important bill in the next two-three weeks," he said.
The government has been holding back-channel talks with the Opposition to bring at least two bills to implement the women's reservation law and to separate delimitation from the Census to increase seats in the Lok Sabha from the present 543 to 816.
The issue saw a heated exchange between the treasury and opposition benches in the Rajya Sabha, with Leader of House J P Nadda emphasizing that the government has the right to decide the timing for bringing a legislation, while Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of being "aggressive" and claimed that the BJP was trying to exploit the women's reservation issue for political gain.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, speaking in the Rajya Sabha, said that the Opposition has demanded that an all-party meeting be held once the assembly elections are over, and has accused the government of pushing the bill despite the Model Code of Conduct being in place in the poll-going states.
"The government has a single-minded objective – to gain some electoral advantage by passing the bill, violating the Model Code of Conduct... This is wholly objectionable, and all opposition parties want all party meetings to be held after April 29," he said.
Rijiju, however, responded that the government is bound to fulfill its promise to the women of the country.
"What is important is that we have a bound duty, a commitment which the Parliament of India has given to the women of this nation. This has nothing to do with specific state elections. We must take it forward because we have certain limitations when we look at the time scale," he said.
"Let us not get into politics over this important issue," the minister said.
Kharge, meanwhile, said that the Congress is in support of reservation for women in the legislature, but the proposed bills are important and have long-term implications. "We all support reservations for women... Don't play games on when and how to bring the Bill," he said.
Rijiju insisted that the Opposition was politicizing the issue, and said, "I am unable to understand why Congress does not want to attend the meeting".
Sanjay Singh of AAP also accused the government of politicizing the issue. NCP (SCP) MP Fauzia Khan questioned if reservations would also be given to women in the Rajya Sabha and legislative councils in the states, while RJD's Manoj Jha questioned the government's stand on the demand for reservation for SC, ST and OBCs within the seats reserved for women.
Nadda, meanwhile, stressed that it was up to the government to decide the date for the "legislative business".
Ramesh also pointed out that when the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed, the government stated it could not be implemented in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls because delimitation was required.
The Congress on Wednesday had claimed that the Modi government is proposing to "bulldoze" a bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50 per cent, with the number of seats allocated to each state also to be increased by 50 per cent, and said such a move would "disadvantage" smaller states in the South, Northeast and West.
There was no official word on the Opposition party's claims.
This was the second half of the Budget Session and the House usually adjourns sine die at the end of it. The House normally meets in the Monsoon Session after this.
According to the government calendar, the House was scheduled to adjourn sine die on April 2.
While elections in Puducherry, Assam and Kerala are scheduled for April 9, polls in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. In Tamil Nadu, polls will be held in a single phase on April 23.