The Congress on Friday expressed concern over the proposed delimitation exercise, which will accompany amendments to the Women’s Reservation Act, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge saying it would have “severe consequences”.
At a Congress Working Committee meeting, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the plan to increase Lok Sabha and Assembly seats by 50% across states, would create a divide between North India and South India. Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy distributed data to show how south Indian states will lose out if the government pushes through the proposed demarcation.
In his address to the meeting, Kharg said that the border demarcation process requires extensive deliberations, stressing that his party will formulate a collective strategy with others in the opposition to move forward “unified.” He said the government will convene Parliament session from April 16 with the sole aim of making political gains, which is a “violation” of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), and is keen to pass the Constitutional Amendment Bill “with utmost speed”.
Read also | Women’s reservation is not about political credit: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan criticizes Kargi
According to two senior leaders present at the meeting, the Congress will have to walk a tightrope between its staunch opposition to the delimitation exercise and the government’s attempt to introduce 33% reservation for women in 2029. “Everyone was wary of the proposed delimitation exercise as it would widen the gap between south Indian and north Indian states in terms of seats in the Lok Sabha. But many leaders also supported that the Congress should support the upcoming amendments to the Women’s Reservation Act,” she said. One of the leaders said.
“Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi herself has said that we should support the amendments to the Women’s Reservation Bill. Leaders like Sachin Pilot and Mukul Wasnik have also called for a similar stance,” another leader said.
Congress is in a dilemma as their demand was to implement the Women’s Reservation Act early.
The Center will resume the third half of the budget session on April 16, and they have indicated that two bills will be procured: amending the Women’s Reservation Act and setting up a delimitation commission.
“Therefore, after this meeting, we will formulate a collective strategy by holding discussions on these issues with our colleagues in the opposition as well. We will move forward united,” said Kharge, who chaired the meeting.
Others present at the meeting included LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Sachin Pilot.
Responding to Karg’s comment, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan posted on X: “…Women’s reservation is not about political credit; it is about dignity, representation and legitimate empowerment of women. India’s women deserve results, not repeated promises that never translate into reality.”
