Give me an hour...: Amit Shah dares Opposition on 50% seat increase for states demand

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday told the Opposition in the Lok Sabha that he was ready to bring an official amendment ensuring a 50 per cent increase in seats for states, if the House paused proceedings for an hour.

Replying to the debate on the Women's Reservation Bill and the Delimitation Bill, Shah said the government had nothing to hide and was prepared to put the proposal in writing. He added that a formal amendment was ready and could be circulated among members after being copied and distributed.

Shah urged Opposition members to clarify whether their resistance stemmed from the demand for a 50 per cent increase in seats. "If that is the issue, I will return within an hour with an official amendment," he said, while insisting that the Bill must be passed.

Targeting the Opposition, Shah said no party had openly opposed women's reservation, but alleged that members of the INDIA bloc were effectively resisting it through "ifs and buts". He warned that delaying the Bill beyond 2029 would amount to blocking its implementation.

"No one has objected to the women's reservation. But, if we see closely, all members of the INDI alliance have opposed it by using ifs and but," Amit Shah said.

He also argued that opposition to delimitation was, in effect, opposition to increasing seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. "Those opposing delimitation are actually opposing an increase in SC/ST seats," the Home Minister said.

Shah assured the House that if delimitation was supported, the value of each vote would be equal across constituencies.

Citing participation in the debate, Shah said nearly 133 members spoke on the Constitution amendment Bill, including 56 women -- a figure he described as a record.

"Nearly 133 Members spoke in the House on this important constitution Amendment Bill, out of which 56 Members were women, which will prove to be a record in itself. I assure them that if they support us for delimitation, then the value of each vote will have equal value across constituencies," he added.

On the implications of the proposed changes, Shah said implementing women’s reservation on the current 543 seats would reserve 13 seats for women in Tamil Nadu, leaving 26 unreserved.

"If we implement women's reservation based on 543 seats, then 13 seats will get reserved for women, and 26 will remain open in Tamil Nadu. If we implement women's reservation based on the 2011 census, then the number of parliamentary seats will reduce by 6. But we are not doing so. We are increasing seats by 50 per cent for every state," the Home Minister said.

Invoking history, Shah said the number of Lok Sabha seats was increased from 525 to 545 in 1972 under former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, before delimitation was frozen during the Emergency through the 42nd Amendment in 1976. He accused the Congress of having denied the country delimitation then and continuing to do so now.

Rejecting regional divisions, Shah said the country should not be split along "north-south" or "east-west" lines, asserting that all states and Union Territories have equal rights in Parliament.

"The country should not be divided by this north-south, east-west narrative. We should rise above it. All states and UTs have equal rights in this parliament," he said.

He also sought to dispel confusion over the census, stating that the Narendra Modi-led Cabinet had decided to conduct a caste census alongside the 2026 Census. "To make sure that there is no confusion in the minds of 140 crore Indians, I want to make it clear that the Narendra Modi Cabinet had decided to hold caste census along with 2026 census," he said.