New Delhi: Just hours before a special three-day Parliament session begins on Thursday, the Opposition INDIA bloc drew a firm battle line: they fully support giving women one-third reservation in legislatures, but they are united in fighting the government’s plan to link it with a fresh delimitation exercise.
Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge emerged from a strategy meeting at his residence on Wednesday evening and lashed out at the Centre. “We have always supported this bill, but our insistence is that the old amendments be implemented,” he told reporters. “The government is not ready to agree. Now our objection is to the government’s method. It is politically motivated. There is cleverness in delimitation.”
The Opposition wants the 33 per cent quota for women — including provisions for SC, ST and, ideally, OBC women — to kick in from the 2029 elections, based on the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats. They argue that tying the reservation to a post-Census delimitation, which could push the House strength to 850 or more, is an “erroneous and unconstitutional” move that could disturb the federal structure and give the ruling side an unfair advantage through redrawn boundaries.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh made it clear: “We want one-third reservation based on the current Lok Sabha number of 543 to be given and implemented for women from 2029.” AAP echoed the sentiment, saying it would back the quota only if applied to existing seats, and accused the government of “betraying states” by pushing delimitation without a proper census-based consensus.
Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal warned that the delimitation step could seriously impact democracy and announced that the Opposition would vote against the related provisions.
The government, on the other hand, is fully prepared to introduce amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam during the April 16-18 sitting to operationalise the law. With tempers running high, noisy scenes and sharp exchanges being almost certain in the House.
For millions of women waiting for greater political representation, the irony is bitter — a bill meant to empower them has once again become a battlefield of political trust and timing. Whether the two sides can find middle ground or the session descends into chaos will decide if this landmark step moves forward or gets stuck in another round of parliamentary deadlock.
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