Maharashtra to convene special Assembly session to discuss women’s quota bill

“The purpose of the session is to project the Opposition as anti-women. By taking the debate from Parliament to the Assembly, we will reiterate our commitment to the women’s reservation bill,” another party strategist said.

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, sought to advance reservation of 33 per cent seats for women in an expanded Lok Sabha and state Assemblies and facilitate delimitation of constituencies. However, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance failed to get the requisite two-thirds majority in Parliament, resulting in the legislation failing to clear the House.

The Maharashtra BJP considers women’s votes crucial, noting that 4.5 crore of the state’s total 9.6 crore voters are women, and intends to leverage the defeated legislation for political mileage.

“When the legislation comes up for discussion, we will show our strength. In the 288-member state Assembly, the BJP (132) and its allies, the Shiv Sena (57) and Nationalist Congress Party (41) comprise 230 seats. In addition, smaller parties and Independents also support the legislation,” a political manager in the state BJP said.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh had announced it would convene a special session in the Legislative Assembly on the same issue on April 30.