Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the Indian bloc will jointly decide its response to the Women’s Reservation Bill and concerns related to border demarcation during a meeting scheduled in New Delhi later in the day.
Abdullah told reporters that the National Congress cannot alone make a decision on this issue and will discuss its position within the opposition alliance.
“At three o’clock in the afternoon, there is a meeting of the India Bloc at Kharg Sahib’s residence. I will participate in that meeting in Delhi. We will talk in the meeting about what the National Conference will do on this issue, because alone we cannot do anything. The India Bloc will together decide its response to this bill in Parliament,” he said.
He also raised concerns over the delimitation process, alleging that constituency boundaries in Jammu and Kashmir had earlier been drawn in a way to benefit a particular political party.
“They say that delimitation will be beneficial, but by delimitation, an attempt has been made to favor one party. The way the constituencies were drawn here, it was in favor of the BJP. If this bill is brought with the same intention, it will only benefit the BJP. We have to see all this. The India bloc needs to decide on its response to this bill,” he added.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated a handicraft and handloom exhibition in Srinagar and said that the initiative would help in promoting tourism and showcasing traditional handicrafts in Kashmir.
“This is the beginning of our tourist season. We are introducing new things to arouse the interest of tourists. Through this exhibition, tourists will be able to see all the handicrafts of Kashmir at one place now,” Abdullah said.
He further said that the government is working to introduce a new incentive policy to boost manufacturing units in the region.
Meanwhile, the Congress will hold a meeting of the Parliamentary Strategy Group on Wednesday at party chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence, 10 Rajaji Marg in New Delhi, ahead of the special session of Parliament to discuss the proposed amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhiniyam, 2023.
While the Congress supported the 33 per cent reservation for women legislators in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures, it opposed the proposed Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, to implement the delimitation process in the Lok Sabha.
As the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, is linked to the delimitation process in the Lok Sabha, the government has proposed to increase the number of seats in the House to 850, with 815 seats proposed for states and the remaining 35 for union territories. Lok Sabha has 543 seats at present.
Opposition leaders have pointed out that the proposed Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, does not increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha on a proportionate basis and will allegedly reduce the representation of southern states in the House.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin also called an emergency meeting of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MPs today to discuss the impact of the delimitation process on the state.
The special session of Parliament is scheduled to begin on Thursday, April 16.
