Agartala, April 27 A one-day session of the Tripura Legislative Assembly will be held on April 30 to deliberate on strengthening and safeguarding the constitutional rights of women, with a renewed push to amend the Constitution through the 131st Amendment Bill, also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
After the Business Advisory Committee on Monday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath said that the special session has been convened by Speaker Ram Pada Jamatia after receiving a petition from 17 members of the Assembly, including government Chief Whip Kalyani Saha Roy.
The petition, submitted as a Notice of Motion, seeks to build a nationwide consensus among all parliamentary political parties and urges the Central government to take immediate steps to initiate the delimitation process based on the 2011 Census, Nath told the media.
He said that the proposal also calls for renewed efforts to amend the Constitution under the 131st Amendment Bill (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam), which aims to ensure one-third reservation of seats for women in both the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
He said that, in this matter, 17 members of the Assembly wrote to the Speaker, which led to the convening of the session on April 30. He added that, considering the importance of the issue, the Speaker called for the session, and the Business Advisory Committee meeting was held today in preparation.
He said that after adopting the motion, the House will appeal to all political parties, through the Central government, to raise and pass this matter again in Parliament.
He added that this is a very vital issue.
He further informed that obituary references will be made during the session for former Minister Kartik Kannya Debbarma, who recently passed away, as well as for legendary singer Asha Bhosle.
He said that following the obituary references, the Business Advisory Committee report will be presented, after which discussions on the main agenda will take place, adding that he also holds the Agriculture and Power portfolio.
Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury, who is also the state Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Gopal Roy, along with other members, also took part in the Business Advisory Committee meeting, chaired by the Assembly Speaker.
The Minister earlier told IANS that similar special sessions will be held in other Assemblies of Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states to discuss the women’s reservation issue and that resolutions will also likely be passed in those state Assemblies.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which aims to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies by 2029, failed to pass in the Lok Sabha on April 17.
Following the development in Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party has been organising "Jan Aakrosh Padyatra" in different parts of the country, criticising the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Samajwadi Party, Left parties, and others.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged that the developments surrounding the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam have exposed what it calls the Opposition's "anti-women" mindset.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, in a post on his official Facebook account, described April 17 as a "Black Day for Indian Democracy" and said that the Opposition's stance had revealed its attitude towards women.
--IANS
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