Lucknow: The state government has suspended all district and division-level meetings requiring the presence of MLAs and MLCs across the state to ensure maximum attendance of MLAs during the special session of the UP Assembly on April 30.The one-day session of the Assembly – the second of the 2026-27 financial year – has been called to discuss the recently defeated 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill, which sought to extend women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies from 2029.The Parliamentary Affairs Department, in a communique sent to all DMs and divisional commissioners, reiterated the 1998 government order directing officials not to organize district or divisional level meetings requiring the presence of MLAs during the ongoing session of the Assembly or Parliament.The release said that if unavoidable, the meeting can be called when there has been no meeting of Parliament or Assembly for three consecutive days.Sources said that the government order has been issued ensuring full presence of all the MLAs and Legislative Councilors. BJP The aim is to effectively centralize the message around the politically charged national issue of the Women’s Reservation Bill.BJP sources said the party sought full attendance of its MLAs to show solidarity. It is not surprising that the state government invoked a long-standing rule to avoid legislators’ distraction or conflicting local commitments. This prevents MLAs from getting caught up in constituency-level pressures and being absent or distracted from any serious debate.“Effectively, this is more about optics than governance,” said a BJP MLA. The debate over the Women’s Reservation Bill has largely created a narrative battle between the BJP and the opposition. Samajwadi Party and his colleague, Congress. This discussion is becoming quite relevant in the backdrop of high-risk UP assembly elections to be held early next year.Analysts said that even though it was a state assembly session, the issue clearly had national implications, especially in UP, where women voters are increasingly becoming decisive.This session is equally important for the opposition, which may raise questions as to why and how the bill was defeated. Sources said the SP and Congress planned to take on the ruling BJP symbolically rather than substantively on women’s issues.