New Delhi, April 17 -- "Reservation on the basis of religion is unconstitutional," Union home minister Amit Shah said in Parliament on Thursday, as a special session began with the introduction of three key bills and quickly veered into a political clash over reservation and the caste census. The remark came amid objections from Samajwadi Party leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav and Dharmendra Yadav, who questioned the timing of the bills and argued that the government was avoiding a caste census to prevent demands for expanded reservation. Responding to these concerns, Shah said the census process had already begun and confirmed that caste enumeration would be part of it, though he clarified that the current phase only involves house listing. The sharper disagreement emerged over the demand to include Muslim women within the women's reservation framework. The government pushed back firmly, with Union minister Kiren Rijiju also terming such a proposal unconstitutional. "Dharmendra Yadav has said unconstitutional thing regarding giving reservation to Muslim women. Our Constitution does not allow giving reservation on the basis of religion," said Shah. Intervening in the debate in Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendment of the women's quota law and to set up a delimitation commission, Shah said the fact is that the number of seats will go up and power will grow. He said the number of Lok Sabha seats in the five southern states will go up from the present 129 to 195 seats....