India’s Parliament to reserve 1/3 of seats for women following 27-years negotiations

India's Parliament has passed groundbreaking legislation that reserves one-third of the seats in the powerful lower house and state legislatures for women, a move aimed at achieving more equitable representation. This development marks the resolution of a 27-year deadlock over the bill due to a lack of consensus among political parties.

As reported by Nikkei Asia, the implementation of the new law will not affect the upcoming national elections scheduled for next year. It will only come into effect during the 2029 national elections, following a new census and the adjustment of voting districts after the 2024 polls, according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who made this announcement during a debate in the upper house of India's Parliament.

The lower house of Parliament passed the legislation on Wednesday with an overwhelming 454-2 vote, and the upper house unanimously approved it with a 214-0 vote on September 21.

Despite broad support from opposition parties, there have been criticisms that the delay in implementing the law is unfair to women. They argue that it should be applied to the next national elections, which are scheduled to take place before May of the following year.