Opposition chorus: We back women’s quota, but delimitation a devious agenda, tool of BJP

The Opposition stand on the Bills was announced by Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, after leaders of INDIA bloc parties and the AAP met at his residence in New Delhi.

The meeting was called to decide a collective strategy for the three-day sitting during which the Bills relating to women’s reservation, delimitation and increase in the strength of Lok Sabha will be taken up for consideration and passage.

“All of us are in favour of the women’s reservation Bill, but have reservations on the way in which it is being brought. It is politically motivated,” Kharge told the press in the presence of Opposition leaders.

“We have been continuously supporting women’s reservation. We are insisting that an earlier amendment that was passed be implemented. They are playing tricks with delimitation. Therefore, all parties have taken a decision, unitedly, to oppose this Bill,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, in a video statement, said the Congress “unequivocally supports women’s reservation”.

“Parliament unanimously passed the Bill in 2023, it is already part of our Constitution,” he said. “What the government is proposing now has nothing to do with women’s reservation. This amendment is an attempted power grab using delimitation and gerrymandering,” he said.

The Congress, he said, will not allow “hissa chori” from OBC, Dalit and Adivasi communities by ignoring the caste census data. “We will also not allow southern, north-eastern, north-western and smaller states to be treated unfairly,” he said.

In a post on X, Gandhi said, “One of the BJP’s dangerous plans is to ‘gerrymander’ all Lok Sabha seats to its advantage for the 2029 elections.”

“The proposed Bills remove all Constitutional safeguards on delimitation, giving full power to the Delimitation Commission which the govt itself will appoint and direct,” he said.

“Delimitation should be based on a transparent policy framework, developed after wide consultations with a consensus. Indians of all communities and States should feel confident that they will be represented and their voices will be heard,” he said.

On the delimitation commission, Congress communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh said it will be “a tool to win a majority for the ruling party”.

“We oppose the delimitation. Women’s reservation should be implemented, but we are totally against delimitation,” he said.

TMC leader Derek O’Brien said the government was executing a “devious agenda” to usher in delimitation under the cover of women’s reservation.

“Delimitation is the devious agenda. Women, their excuse,” he said, adding that the government “never cared a fig about women”.

His TMC Rajya Sabha colleague Sagarika Ghose told The Indian Express that all Opposition parties are on the same page regarding these Bills. “We will do whatever it takes to defeat this stunt by the Central government,” she said.

Sources said when the meeting was informed that not all TMC MPs, busy with elections in West Bengal, would be able to make it to the House for the discussion, DMK’s T R Baalu pointed out that even his party was in the middle of elections but had instructed its MPs to be present.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut called delimitation contentious, saying it was being undertaken without a census and could face fierce opposition from southern states.

The fundamental problem that the Opposition has with the Bills is that delimitation will be “misused” by the BJP to its “advantage”.

Congress MP Manish Tewari said: “These are not legislations to operationalise women’s reservation. This is delimitation dressed up as a women’s reservation Bill, which has opened up a complete Pandora’s box of very portentous probabilities which will have very deleterious implications if at all these Bills see the light of the day.”

CPI (ML) MP Raja Ram Singh said all Opposition parties will oppose the delimitation exercise being brought “in the guise” of women’s reservation. “After a tumultuous fight by the Opposition, caste census is happening along with the main census. To bypass the caste census for immediate delimitation makes one wary of the government’s intention,” he said.

Underlining that the delimitation Bill hits the “spirit of cooperative federalism”, former Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik said his party will support the Bill only if Odisha’s political rights remain intact.