In the second week of the Parliament session, the government successfully passed the Anti-Paper Leak Bill and the Vande Mataram Bill. It is now believed that in the next phase, the government may advance bills related to delimitation and women’s reservation. However, since both require constitutional amendments, a two-thirds majority is considered the biggest challenge.
Delimitation Bill requires special majority for constitutional amendment
A special majority in Parliament is required to pass bills related to delimitation and women’s reservation. Currently, the Lok Sabha has an effective membership of 540, so the support of at least 360 MPs would be necessary to pass the bill.
How much support does the government have?
According to current political dynamics, the NDA is estimated to have the support of 293 MPs. With the support of MPs who defected from the Trinamool Congress and some Shiv Sena MPs, this number reaches approximately 319. Adding the support of the YSRCP and an independent MP, the government is estimated to have approximately 324 MPs.
Delimitation Bill still far from majority mark
Based on these figures, the government still falls short of the two-thirds majority required. Therefore, passing the constitutional amendment bills without the support of other parties is considered difficult.
Keeping an eye on next week
The monsoon session of Parliament is scheduled to run until August 13th. Therefore, it may become clear in the next few days whether the government will introduce the delimitation bill and women’s reservation bills in the House or wait until sufficient support is secured. At present, no formal announcement has been made by the government on this matter.