NEW DELHI — India's Parliament opened debate Thursday on a bill to reserve one-third of legislative seats for women, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government introduced three bills to be debated in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament. The bills are being taken up during a three-day special session and will require a two-thirds majority in both houses to pass.

Two of the three bills would extend the 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies, fast-tracking a 2023 law mandating the quota. A third bill would redraw voting boundaries based on population, a change that could increase the number of seats in the lower house from 543 to about 850. The government proposed that the new boundaries be based on the 2011 census and come into effect for the next general election, scheduled for 2029.

Women currently hold about 14% of seats in the lower house. "We're set to take historic steps to empower women," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

India's Constitution mandates that parliamentary seats be allocated by population and revised after each census, but boundaries have not been redrawn since the 1971 census. The rollout of the women's quota is tied to the population-based redrawing of voting boundaries using data from the 2011 census. Modi's party said it would implement a uniform 50% increase in seats across all states, maintaining proportional representation nationwide.

Opposition parties warned that changing voting boundaries could shift political power toward faster-growing northern states, diminish southern regions' representation, and benefit Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party. Leaders in southern states said a population-based delimitation exercise could increase seats in the north and disadvantage southern regions that have slowed population growth and built stronger economies. Opposition parties want the government to wait for the results of the ongoing census, which will take a year to complete.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said, "The proposal that the government is now bringing has no connection to women's reservation. It is merely an attempt to seize power through delimitation and gerrymandering."

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin burned a copy of the bill and raised a black flag in protest. Stalin urged people across Tamil Nadu to burn copies of the bill and raise black flags. Some leaders from southern states turned up in Parliament dressed in black as a mark of protest.

Modi's National Democratic Alliance holds 293 seats in Parliament, and a two-thirds majority requires 360 seats. India already mandates that one-third of seats be set aside for women in local governance bodies. Several Asian countries, including Nepal and Bangladesh, have similar quotas for women in national legislatures.