New Delhi: Opposition parties on Wednesday said they supported the Women’s Reservation Bill and wanted it implemented from the next Lok Sabha elections, but opposed the provisions related to delimitation expected to come up during the Parliament session beginning Thursday.
Following a meeting of Opposition leaders at his residence, Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The Opposition leaders made it clear that they were all in favour of the Women’s Reservation Bill but would oppose the way the Centre is bringing it as they believe that the government is playing tricks through it with regard to delimitation.”
“We are all in favour of the Women’s Reservation Bill. However, the way in which it has been brought is questionable, and we have serious reservations about it. It is politically motivated.
The Modi government is acting in this manner to target and suppress Opposition parties,” he added. Kharge said the Congress has “consistently supported the Women’s Reservation Bill and has insisted that it should be implemented on the earlier amendment passed”.
On delimitation, he said, “All Opposition parties are going to take a united stand and fight in Parliament.” The meeting was attended, among others, by Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, TR Baalu, Tejashwi Yadav, Supriya Sule, Sagarika Ghosh, Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant and Sanjay Singh. Akhilesh Yadav joined virtually. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Of the three bills being presented in Parliament, one is a Constitution Amendment Bill, and two are statutory bills.”
On women’s reservation, he said, “In 2023, Article 334(A) was incorporated into the Constitution. It provided for granting one-third reservation to women by consensus. We want that provision to be implemented immediately.”
Ramesh said the Opposition had maintained in 2023 that the provision should be implemented from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but alleged that “the Centre had made it conditional on a census and delimitation”.
“Election campaigning is underway in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. In the middle of this, they have brought these three bills. Here, they have brought a Constitution Amendment Bill which connects women’s reservation and delimitation. This delimitation is very dangerous,” he said.
He added that ministers had indicated Lok Sabha seats could be increased by 50%, but “this has not been mentioned in the bill being brought. Based on this bill, the proportion of seats of many states will decrease.”
Ramesh alleged that the delimitation commission’s work in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam showed it was “a tool in the hands of the BJP to gain a majority”.
He said the Opposition wanted women’s reservation implemented based on the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats and delimitation treated separately. Meanwhile, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin called for a black flag protest against the proposed delimitation measure, describing it as a “conspiracy” and a “black law”.
“We will hoist black flags in our homes to express our protest and opposition to the amendment to be introduced in Parliament, a black law,” he said, alleging the BJP was leading India into a dark period.
Stalin said delimitation should not be based solely on population and warned it would reduce Tamil Nadu’s voice in Parliament and create disparity between northern and southern states.
Actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay also opposed the move, calling it biased. He said the Bill would reduce the representation of southern states in lawmaking and policy formulation.
Additionally, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the INDIA bloc must collectively decide its response to the Constitution Amendment Bill. “The INDIA bloc must collectively decide what our response will be on this bill, and what our role will be in the Parliament, whether in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha,” he said.
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Referring to the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said past experience suggested attempts were made to benefit aparticular party. He added that it remained to be seen whether the proposed Bill would benefit the BJP or the common voter.
