The meritorious, educated and enterprising Indian women are growing in leaps and bounds, and they are ready to harness politics, says Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu while commenting on the proposed Women’s Reservation and Delimitation Bills 2026.

In an exclusive interaction with The Hindu, Mr. Naidu said, “I am very confident that the Bill will be passed. Those who oppose it will be exposed. Today, women are educated and enterprising. They are ready to take the lead. If you give them the opportunity, the quality of leadership will increase. I started promoting women's leadership in 1995, and it was very successful. Even the former Chief Minister of undivided A.P., N.T. Rama Rao had promoted and encouraged educated women in politics by giving them seats in the TDP. If you encourage them, they’ll be prepared.”

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, named ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam,’ introduced this month, is designed for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State assemblies, which takes Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850. It also enables delimitation using the 2011 Census to expedite the quota for the 2029 elections, bypassing the waiting till the next census.

Mr. Naidu wrote to leaders of various political parties and Members of Parliament from the State, urging them to extend support to Bill.

Speaking about the changing economic and political landscape in India, Mr. Naidu said that women could prove their mettle in all sectors. “India is mature. No more proxies now. Even political parties are forced to allocate seats to women based on merit. With reservations, several problems, including dowry, will be sorted out. We will have reverse dowry. Now, grooms are offering money as brides have become more meritorious, occupying key positions in different sectors, including business,” Mr. Naidu said.

Better amenities

Besides reservations, women in India need better amenities and public utilities to ensure safe, hygienic infrastructure at workplaces. “We should consciously promote better infrastructure to support women. Both men and women should take full responsibility for grooming children. Men should also learn to take care of children,” he said.

SWAYAM brand

Detailing about the promotion of women entrepreneurship in Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Naidu said the government is branding the products made by women through ‘Swayam’, an initiative to empower DWCRA (Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas) groups. The goal is to improve the marketability and branding of products created by women entrepreneurs, aiming for both national and international recognition, similar to the AMUL model.

Expressing his support for the ‘delimitation’ exercise in the present form, Mr. Naidu stated that it was scientifically done and it was good. He stressed the need to increase the population. “Families are shrinking. We need to have more population. Bigger families are healthy and happy ones. It is good to have big families as they provide security, groom values, sentiments, and enable members to make informed decisions through discussions. We are bringing in a population policy. The modalities are in the final stage. Instead of giving one-time benifit, we are looking at different propositions. We may finalise the policy by this month end,” he said.