New Delhi, April 10 Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday alleged that the Narendra Modi government's proposed delimitation exercise related to the implementation of the women's reservation law would have "serious consequences" and warrants thorough deliberation.
Kharge said his party would formulate a collective strategy with other opposition parties to move forward "unitedly" on this issue.
He said the Modi government is convening a session of Parliament from April 16 with the sole intention of gaining political advantage, which is a "violation" of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), and is keen to pass the Constitutional Amendment Bill in "utmost haste".
Addressing the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to discuss and formulate the party's strategy on the government's move to amend the women's reservation law, Kharge said the proposed amendments are of such a nature that they can potentially have a profound impact on the country's electoral system.
"Therefore, after this meeting, we will formulate a collective strategy by holding discussions on these issues with our colleagues in the opposition. We will move forward unitedly," Kharge asserted.
The meeting, chaired by Kharge, was attended by former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Sachin Pilot, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, former Union ministers Ambika Soni and Anand Sharma were also present.
In his opening remarks, Kharge said that after a prolonged silence, the Modi government has suddenly become active regarding the issue of women's reservation.
"In this context, a session of Parliament is scheduled to be held between April 16 and 18 to address the matter of providing 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies. To date, we have not received any formal proposal from the government regarding this matter. We have only got to know some points after reading an article authored by the prime minister," Kharge said.
During Parliament's sittings, the government intends to pass a significant Constitutional Amendment Bill so that it may claim credit for, and derive political benefit from, during the upcoming state assembly elections, he alleged.
"Based on the information we have received so far, the government wants to implement women's reservation starting from the 2029 elections. In addition, it wants to increase the current seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies by 50 per cent.
"It wants to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha from 543 to 816. There will also be a proportional increase in the state assemblies," he said.
Kharge said this delimitation proposal will have "serious consequences". Therefore, there is a need for very deep deliberation on delimitation, he noted.
"The Modi government is calling this parliamentary meeting with the intention of gaining political advantage. It wants to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill as quickly as possible," Kharge said.
He pointed out that opposition parties, along with him, had written to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, requesting that the government convene an all-party meeting after April 29, the final day of polling for the West Bengal elections, to facilitate a serious and substantive discussion on this matter.
However, despite their collective appeals, the government disregarded their suggestions, opting instead to prioritise narrative-building and electoral gains, Kharge alleged.
"This constitutes a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Yet, given that the Election Commission currently appears to be functioning merely as a subordinate office of the Ministry of Home Affairs, we harbour no expectation that it will even take cognisance of these violations," Kharge said.
He pointed out that the parliamentary sittings have been convened at a time when the majority of MPs are preoccupied in their respective constituencies due to the ongoing assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
"However, this is nothing new for the Modi government. Undermining democracy and taking arbitrary decisions has become a habit for them — a practice against which we have consistently raised our voice in protest," Kharge said.
"We do not require a certificate from anyone regarding issues such as the welfare of women and the marginalised sections of society," Kharge said.
It was the Congress party that realised the vision of reserving one-third of the seats for women in panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies, he said.
"Smt Sonia Gandhi and Shri Rahul Gandhi have written numerous letters on this subject. During the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held in Hyderabad in 2023, we engaged in an in-depth discussion on this issue and urged the Modi government to convene a special session of Parliament to pass the Women's Reservation Bill," Kharge said.
"On September 23, 2023, while speaking on the Constitutional Amendment Bill in the House, I demanded that it be implemented immediately," he said.
However, the government decided that the implementation of this measure would be deferred until after the delimitation exercise and the Census had been completed, Kharge said.
In a post on Facebook, Rahul Gandhi said, "Attended the Congress Working Committee meeting at Indira Bhawan, ahead of the special session of Parliament on Women's Reservation Bill. The Congress remains steadfastly committed to ensuring women's empowerment and social justice."
The CWC, the highest decision-making body of the party, met here to deliberate on the government's move to amend the women's reservation law, the proposed delimitation exercise and the West Asia conflict.
The meeting comes days ahead of the three-day sitting of Parliament, during which the government will bring bills to implement the Women's Reservation Act before the 2029 parliamentary polls and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816, with 273 reserved for women.