NEW DELHI: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded that the government “call an all-party meeting” to discuss any changes in the Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhinyam Act or the Constitution (116th Amendment) Act that provides for reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, stating that one-on-one talks between government managers and selected opposition leaders would be meaningless.
Kharge’s comments come in the context of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju reaching out to him through a senior Congress member in Rajya Sabha to seek his (Kharge’s) opinion on any possible amendment to the law for faster implementation.
Media reports claimed that the plan was to advance reservations ahead of the demarcation of electoral district boundaries, which will follow the ongoing national census. The same law stipulates that reservation does not occur until the borders are determined.
“I will talk to (Congress Parliamentary Party leader) Sonia Gandhi and (Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi (about this issue). But we want the government to call an all-party meeting to consult leaders of all parties, if they are serious about anything,” Karg said.
His position confirms the efforts made by Congress to bring together all voters of the India Bloc at the decision-making level. The much-awaited Women’s Reservation Bill to give 33% quota to women in assemblies and the House of Representatives (Lok Sabha) has been approved unanimously.
Kharji added, “Convening a meeting of all parties is necessary because these individual talks will not help. The government must invite all parties and see what the general mood is.”
According to Congress leaders, Rijiju has started consulting with party leaders to discuss the possibility of separating what is also known as the Women’s Reservation Act from the earlier stipulated condition requiring a delimitation and census procedure. The idea was to push this before the 2027 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, they added.
Interestingly, at the time the law was passed, the India Bloc leaders demanded that it should be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi even questioned the government’s intention, if the law will come into force only in 2034, and claimed that the delay frustrates the very purpose of the bill.
