New Delhi, March 25 – In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Wednesday accused him of repeatedly changing his stance, now seeking to implement the women's reservation law without completing the delimitation and census operations.
The party stated that the prime minister has indicated that a "special two-day session" will be convened in the coming weeks to pass the necessary amendments to implement the law.
The opposition party alleges that this is a "ploy to divert attention" from the government's failures in foreign policy and the LPG and energy crisis, and to shift the focus elsewhere.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said the Modi government is also planning to increase the size of the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas by 50 per cent, which also requires careful consideration.
In September 2023, the new Parliament House was inaugurated with the passage of the women's reservation bill – the Nari Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 – which amended the Constitution to provide for one-third reservation of women in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas, as well as one-third reservation for women in reserved seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Ramesh pointed out.
He added that both these reservations were to come into effect after the delimitation and census exercises were completed.
During the debate on the Nari Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, the Indian National Congress had demanded its immediate implementation from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he noted.
However, the Modi government had stated that this was not possible since both delimitation and the census had to be completed first, Ramesh recalled.
"Now, the 'U-turn Ustad' has, after 30 months, suddenly changed his mind and wants to implement the reservations WITHOUT completing the delimitation and census operations," the Congress leader said.
"The PM is unmatched in unleashing 'weapons of mass diversion'. He has done it many times before and he is doing it again now. Desperate to change the narrative from his foreign policy failures and setbacks and from the LPG and energy crisis facing the country, he has come up with this new initiative," he said.
The prime minister has indicated that a "special two-day session" will be convened in the coming weeks to pass the necessary amendments to the Nari Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, Ramesh said, in order to take full political advantage of the situation.
He said the Opposition parties have written to the government requesting that an all-party meeting be convened after the current round of assembly elections is completed on April 29, when the proposed amendments can be discussed.
"The Modi government is also planning to increase the size of the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas by 50 per cent. This also requires careful deliberation," Ramesh said.
He alleges that the Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has been reduced to being the "Modi Code of Campaigning".
"Calling a special two-day session any day in April would violate one MCC but will be in keeping with the other," he said.
This also calls into serious question the Modi government's real commitment to actually conduct a caste census that it had announced in April 2025, after accusing the Congress leaders of suffering from an urban naxal mindset for raising this demand during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, Ramesh said.
Sources said the government is unlikely to immediately bring a bill to increase Lok Sabha seats to 816 so that 273 of them could be reserved for women during the ongoing Parliament session, which may be adjourned early but will not be prorogued, to keep open the option of reconvening after the upcoming assembly elections.
Sources indicated that there is very little chance that the government would table the constitution amendment bill that will tweak Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in Parliament in the next few days.
It is learnt that there was no proposal till Tuesday evening to bring the draft bill before the Union Cabinet, which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had on Monday discussed the matter with some NDA constituents and some non-Congress opposition floor leaders. But consultations with the principal opposition party, Congress, and another major party, TMC, were yet to take place.
As there have been talks of curtailment of the ongoing Budget session, sources indicated that there is a possibility of adjournment of the Parliament before the April 2 schedule, but it will not be prorogued so that the same session can be reconvened.
The provision to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution in 2023, but it will come into effect after the completion of the delimitation exercise.
According to the broad contours available, the number of Lok Sabha seats would be increased from the present 543 to 816, with 273 seats reserved for women. The reservation will also be done on a "vertical basis" with seats allocated for SCs and STs.
The redrawing of the constituencies will be done on the basis of the 2011 census rather than the proposed 2027 census.
A similar exercise will be carried out for state assemblies, where seats will be reserved on a pro rata basis.
While a Constitution amendment bill will tweak the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, another ordinary bill will amend the Delimitation Act.
Once approved by Parliament, the proposed laws will come into force on March 31, 2029, and will help reserve seats in the next Lok Sabha elections and assembly elections in Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh.
In September 2023, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill.
The law is officially known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act.
Several opposition parties on Tuesday wrote to the government, asking for an all-party meeting to be convened to discuss the modalities of the implementation of the women's quota law.
In a letter to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, the opposition leaders said the meeting should be held after the current round of assembly elections is completed in April.