Owaisi lists "reforms" he proposed in Delimitation Bill

The Constitution Amendment Bill aimed at expediting the implementation of the Women's Reservation Act was defeated in Lok Sabha and the government decided not to go ahead with the Delimitation Bill. It also decided against going ahead with the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and Delimitation Bill, 2026 were together taken up for debate in the Lok Sabha.

"On the delimitation bill, I'd moved amendments to ensure fair representation for the Southern states, OBCs & SC/STs. My goal was to ensure that the delimitation should be free and fair. However, most amendments were not allowed for whatever reason," Owaisi said in a post on X.

He listed the "reforms" he had proposed. "1. Ensure that the present proportion of Lok Sabha seats is preserved. So that the Northern states don't get even more of an advantage than they already enjoy at present. 2. Converting seats reserved for women into double-member constituencies. So that each reserved constituency would have two MPs jointly, one of whom would be a woman. This would have ensured fairer representation without causing excessive disruption. It'd have also prevented bad faith reservation of seats," he said.

"Reserving 27% of the seats for OBCs and minority women. 4. Mandating that the Delimitation Commission follows transparent measures and responds to all publicly raised concerns," he added. The government has made it clear that there cannot be reservation based on religion as it cannot be allowed constitutionally.

In his fifth suggestion, Owaisi suggested explicitly prohibiting gerrymandering to make constituencies in such a way that it benefits one party.

"It draws lessons from Assam and J&K delimitations. Constituencies that are made to reduce representation of minorities or deny Scheduled Castes their best representation would be prohibited. 6 Enabling the Supreme Court to review discriminatory delimitations and order fresh delimitations," he said.

Owaisi said his seventh suggestion was that the Speakers of the Assemblies and Lok Sabha should nominate 5 members each to the Delimitation Commission as Associate Members.

"My amendment would have required that these five members don't belong to a single party, and they belong to as many parties as possible. 8. That the power of delimitation should be with Parliament and not at the government's discretion. Only (1), (4), (6) & (7) were allowed to be tabled in the House for voting. My proposed reforms were an effort to get a reasonable delimitation. The government is, of course, not interested in anything reasonable," he said. (ANI)