Eknath Shinde meets PM Modi amid govt push for women’s reservation, delimitation bills

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday amid the government’s renewed efforts to secure the two-thirds majority needed to pass proposed women’s reservation and delimitation bills. The NDA is reaching out to allies and opposition leaders

New Delhi: Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, amid renewed efforts by the government to cobble together numbers for a two-thirds majority to pass the women’s reservation and delimitation bills.

The Shiv Sena is part of the ruling NDA with 13 Lok Sabha and two Rajya Sabha members. The Maharashtra based party’s Lok Sabha strength reached 13 after six MPs belonging to the rival Shiv Sena (UBT) joined it in June.

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From holding meetings with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to outreach to NDA allies, the government is carrying out an intensive exercise to get the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill passed — four months after a similar bid failed on the floor of Lok Sabha.

However, on record, Shinde said he met the prime minister to discuss issues related to rain and Maharashtra’s development in general. He met Modi at his office in the Parliament House complex.

Six newly-inducted MPs of his party were also invited by Modi for tea on Friday along with MPs of other NDA constituents.
Shinde expressed confidence that the prime minister’s interaction would help boost development works in their constituencies.

“We discussed the development work to be undertaken in their respective constituencies. This will benefit both the state government and the Centre, and our MPs will get support for development,” Shinde said after his meeting with the prime minister.

In a statement later, Shinde urged all political parties to cooperate in the passage of important legislation and said Parliament should not be held hostage to political considerations.

He also said constituency delimitation is an essential democratic exercise to ensure fair and equitable representation for every citizen. On Opposition’s demand for Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation, Shinde termed it as purely political.

He criticised the Congress and other opposition parties over the continuing Parliament deadlock, accusing them of stalling the House instead of participating in democratic debate.

In his meeting with the prime minister, Shinde was accompanies by Shiv Sena MPs. The government is making fresh attempt to get the Constitution Amendment Bill passed in Lok Sabha for implementation of the 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and redraw the Lok Sabha constituencies to increase its numbers to 816.

Last time, the bill fell short of the constitutionally mandated two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha, with 298 members voting in favour against 230 opposing it.

The government’s numbers have since improved marginally. The NDA’s strength in Lok Sabha now stands at 299 following the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs with the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Among the 20 NCPI MPs, three Muslim law makers remained non-committal about their allegiance towards NDA. However, in the eventuality of all 20 voting in favour of the bill, the government has assured the support of 319 votes. But it is still well short of the 360 votes required to pass a constitutional amendment based on the current effective strength of the House.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had met Gandhi twice in the past 10 days for smooth functioning of the House. The minister had also made two telephonic calls to Gandhi on Tuesday and Thursday.

Besides talking to NDA allies, the government also plans to meet other opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and DMK leadership to gauge their view on the possible reintroduction of the Constitution Amendment Bill.

In a related development, the Congress issued a whip to its members in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, asking them to be present in their respective Houses on August 10, 11 and 12 as “very important” issues will be taken up for discussion.

The Congress has also conveyed to all INDIA bloc allies to ensure that their MPs remain present on the three days, sources said. The issuance of the whip comes amid reports that the contentious Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, will be taken up for discussion and passage in Parliament next week. There is also talk of the delimitation bill being considered by the government.