New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that Muslims will not be given reservation on the basis of religion as such a quota would be unconstitutional.
During a fiery 40-minute debate, following which three bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha for amendment of the women’s quota law and to set up a delimitation commission, Shah said a caste census will be carried out along with population enumeration during the ongoing census exercise.
“The question of providing reservation to Muslim women on the basis of religion does not even arise. Our Constitution does not allow at all to give reservation on the basis of religion. I want to make it clear our government’s resolve that Muslims will not be given reservation on the basis of religion. Such reservation is unconstitutional,” a combative Shah said after the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav and Dharmendra Yadav spoke in favour of giving a quota to Muslims.
The home minister said the Samajwadi Party members were saying that they would place the demand for a caste census but he would like to inform them that the government had already taken a decision to carry out the caste census and it would be carried out along with the population enumeration.
“Right now, the counting of households is underway and the households do not have any caste. If the Samajwadi Party had its way, they would determine the caste of households as well,” he said.
Shah also said “if the Samajwadi Party gives all its tickets to Muslim women, where do we have any objection, we have no objections at all”.
He said that during the population enumeration, the census authorities would keep a provision for caste enumeration, “which I personally want too”.
“I want to make it clear that this census will be conducted along with caste enumeration,” the home minister said.
The houselisting under the census 2027 started on April 1. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on April 30 last year decided to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census. Caste was excluded from all census operations conducted since Independence.
The Lok Sabha on Thursday took up the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Delimitation Bill, 2026, for debate and passage.
As per the proposal, the strength of the Lok Sabha will be increased to 815, of which 272 seats will be reserved for women — a total of 33 per cent.
asserted that the Lok Sabha seats in five southern states will go up to 195 from the present 129, an increase of 50 per cent, when the total seats in the Lower House will be enhanced to 816, saying a false narrative is being spread to float misleading information.
Intervening in the debate in Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendment of the women’s quota law and to set up a delimitation commission, Shah also said the proposed women’s reservation will be implemented only in 2029 and till then all polls will be conducted under the present system.
He said the number of Lok Sabha seats in the five southern states will go up from the present 129 to 195 seats while the percentage of power will increase from 23.76 per cent to 23.87 or almost 24 per cent.
“Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka will increase to 42 from the present 28; in Andhra Pradesh, the number of Lok Sabha sets will increase to 38 from 25; in Telangana, it will be 26 from present 17; in Tamil Nadu, the number of Lok Sabha seats will go up to 59 from the present 39; and in Kerala, it will be 30 seats from the present 20,” he said.
According to the bill, the Lok Sabha seats will go up to a maximum of 850 but Shah explained that it was a rounded figure and the seats will remain at 816.
Explaining how the total number of seats in the new Lok Sabha is fixed at 816, the home minister said it is exactly 50 per cent more than the existing number of seats.
Shah strongly rejected the opposition’s suggestion that the government will indulge in some kind of “mischief” during the delimitation exercise, saying the NDA government has not made any changes in the existing law.
“The delimitation bill is exactly like the previous law brought by your government. There is no change, not even a comma or a full stop,” he said.
The home minister made it clear that all elections till 2029 parliamentary polls, including 2027 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, will be conducted under the present system as the women’s reservation will be applicable only in 2029.
