Lok Sabha Speaker Weighs Mergers That Could Reshape NDA Majority

Speaker Birla is currently vetting the legal implications of the merger involving 20 dissident Trinamool Congress MPs with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, alongside a separate move by six Shiv Sena members to join Eknath Shinde’s camp. These realignments carry profound consequences for the floor math in the lower house. Should the Speaker validate these transitions, the NDA’s current strength of 292 seats would climb to 318, effectively altering the legislative balance of power.

Beyond these mergers, the Speaker faces a procedural request from the DMK, which seeks a formal change in seating arrangements following its break from the INDIA bloc. As the dust settles on these internal shifts, the central government is reportedly preparing to reintroduce the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill. This legislation targets a long-awaited expansion of Lok Sabha seats and the implementation of the 33% reservation for women mandated by the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023.