Amit Shah and Akhilesh Yadav clash in Lok Sabha.

New Delhi: There was a heated debate between the Home Minister Amit Shah And Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav A special Parliament session was held on Thursday to discuss the Constitution Bill, Union Territory Law and Delimitation Bill.Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Yadav criticized the Center over its ‘hastyness’ in introducing the Women’s Reservation Bill in the absence of an updated census and accused the government of avoiding caste-based enumeration. Yadav said, “Why is the Center in a hurry for women’s reservation? We are in favor of it but why don’t you want to conduct the census? Start with the census first.”“They are delaying the census because when it happens, we will ask for a caste-based census, and they don’t want that,” he said.Responding to this, Shah said that the census process has started and the government has planned to include caste-based enumeration under it.Taking a dig at the opposition, Shah said, “The census process has already started in the entire country and after that we will also conduct a caste-based census. Currently, the work of making the list of houses is going on; the houses do not belong to any particular caste. If the SP has its way, it will nominate a caste in the houses also. I want to assure the House that a caste-based census is also going to be conducted.”Describing reservation on the basis of religion as unconstitutional, Shah said, “Any kind of reservation for Muslims on the basis of religion is unconstitutional.” On this, Yadav asked whether Muslim women are outside the 50% reservation limit. “Will Muslim women, who constitute half the population, also get separate reservation?” Yadav asked.Shah reacted by saying, “We are not stopping the Samajwadi Party from giving all its tickets to Muslim women.” The discussion turned more tense when Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urged members to maintain decorum during the proceedings.

Why is the opposition opposing the Women’s Reservation Bill? The answer lies in the Delimitation Bill

According to the Constitution Amendment Bill, it is proposed to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to a maximum of 850 seats to implement the Women’s Reservation Act before the 2029 general elections. The expansion will take place after the delimitation exercise based on the 2011 census.The proposed law seeks to readjust the allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha and state and union territory assemblies, by redrawling regional constituencies across the country. The exercise is based on population-based correction using 2011 census data.The Bill projects delimitation as a broader political change, potentially altering the size and composition of both the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, including a proposal to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850.However, the proposal has met with opposition, with many parties raising concerns over its impact on representation and the implications of relying on the 2011 census for such a significant realignment.