Quota to create fresh headaches for parties

Prominent leaders who had monopolised their constituencies for long would now have to shift to other constituencies if their fiefdoms get suddenly reserved for women. Elected leaders who nurture their constituencies well will also be driven by uncertainty on whether their constituency will remain deserved next time, creating headaches for their parties.

For instance, 46 of the 140 seats in Kerala will be filled by women in the next assembly once the women's legislation is enacted. Now, there are only seven women MLAs most of whom belong to the CPM-led LDF. The general belief is that the women's reserved seats will be determined by draw of lots. “So who knows who will suddenly have to sit at home and who will become an MLA or even minister,” asked a Congress MLA. 

Already, many candidates who contested the last Lok Sabha election are aware of the havoc created by the redrawing of their constituencies in the delimitation exercise. Now, candidates eyeing next year's assembly election will have to contend with not just a redrawn constituency but also uncertainty over the reserved status of their constituency.
DSources say that the number of women’s reserved constituencies will be determined by taking a district as one unit and then determining its one-third.