India’s Modi pushes for more women in bigger parliament in democratic overhaul

NEW DELHI: India’s government launched a bid to overhaul its democratic system on Thursday, with bills to increase the size of parliament and bring forward plans to reserve a third of seats for women - though the opposition dismissed it as an attempt to manipulate elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the lower house of parliament the proposals - which would also increase the number of legislators and women in regional assemblies and redraw constituencies - would move India in a “new direction”.

“I believe that (women’s) voice in this house will bring new strength, fresh thinking, and a greater sense of sensitivity,” he said.

The government said the alterations to boundaries reflected population changes since seats were last fixed after a 1971 census.

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Modi’s National Democratic Alliance government does not have the two-thirds majority it needs to get the measures through both houses of parliament and is hoping to convince some smaller parties and opposition groups to back the bills.

Larger opposition groups said they supported quotas for women, but accused the government of seeking to manipulate the system to get more votes, and said they would oppose the changes when parliament votes on them this week.

“The government should simplify women’s reservation so that it comes into effect immediately upon the passage of the law,” the Congress party, which leads the main opposition alliance, said in a post on X.

The bills would increase the number of lawmakers in the lower house of parliament by around 55% to 850 - and make similar increases to state legislatures - by the time of the next parliamentary elections due in 2029.

The bills would reserve one-third of seats for women in the expanded assemblies by the same date. The one-third share was agreed in legislation passed in 2023, but that was linked to the next census which would take the changes beyond the next election.

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The changes also need to be ratified by at least half the state legislatures before they can become law.

India’s parliament currently does not reserve any seats for women, who make up nearly half of its 968 million voters but constitute only 14% of the lawmakers in the lower house and 17% in the upper house.

About 10% of the lawmakers in the country’s state legislatures are women.