Amid the din, a dare to reserve PM's post for women: TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee calls for 50% of current 543 seats

“Delimitation is a political gimmick. You don't have the intention to give quota to women,” said MP from Bengal, where his party is locked in a battle with BJP

Updated on: Apr 18, 2026, 15:45:18 IST

Written by Aarish Chhabra

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Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee had a simple question for the BJP-led government during the three-day special session on the issue of how to implement women's reservation in legislatures. Why not give them 50% — right now, on existing seats — without any delimitation?

TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee speaks in the Lok Sabha during the special session of Parliament in New Delhi on Friday. (Sansad TV/ANI)

"Women's reservation can be done in a single day," he told the Lok Sabha on Friday, "The problem is that you neither have the guts nor the intention to do the same."

He then pushed further, “Prime Minister's post should also be reserved for women, by rotation. Speaker's post can also be kept for women. The BJP will anyway not return to power in 2029, so Modi ji cannot be PM. We fully support 50% reservation for women.”

Argument against delimitation

The offer cut to the centre of the opposition's case. The government had introduced three bills bundling women's reservation with a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 census and an expansion of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 816, or a maxium of 850, seats. Kalyan Banerjee's argument was that none of that is needed as the law for women's quota was already passed in 2023.

“Delimitation is a political gimmick and nothing else. You don't have the intention to give reservation to women. The BJP and the Prime Minister are doing a drama over women's reservation,” said the MP from West Bengal, where his party led by Mamata Banerjee is locked in a battle with the BJP in elections this month.

Kalyan Banerjee also spoke of the BJP's internal record, noting that only 12.91% of the party's Lok Sabha MPs are women, and 16.98% of its Rajya Sabha MPs, a much lower ration than in the TMC. "Women's reservation is not for bargain," he said.

He cited historical delimitation exercises, and said the government's proposal to base delimitation on the 2011 census — bypassing the ongoing 2026 census — broke precedent.

Jibe for jibe

Earlier that day, PM Modi had taken a jibe at Kalyan Banerjee while addressing the House: "Arey bhai! Inko bolne dijiye, wahan pe bechare ke munh pe taala laga hua hai. Wahan Bengal mein bhi bolne nahin deta" — 'Let him speak, the poor man's mouth is locked there, he isn't even allowed to speak in Bengal.' The House laughed.

Kalyan Banerjee, upon his turn, was visibly animated as his party opposed the bills to hasten delimitation for the women's quota. The main constitutional amendment bill fell short of the required two-third majority. His offer remained rhetorical.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aarish Chhabra
Aarish Chhabra is an Associate Editor with the Hindustan Times online team, writing news reports and explanatory articles, besides overseeing coverage for the website. His career spans nearly two decades across India's most respected newsrooms in print, digital, and broadcast. He has reported, written, and edited across formats — from breaking news and live election coverage, to analytical long-reads and cultural commentary — building a body of work that reflects both editorial rigour and a deep curiosity about the society he writes for. Aarish studied English literature, sociology and history, besides journalism, at Panjab University, Chandigarh, and started his career in that city, eventually moving to Delhi. He is also the author of ‘The Big Small Town: How Life Looks from Chandigarh’, a collection of critical essays originally serialised as a weekly column in the Hindustan Times, examining the culture and politics of a city that is far more than its famous architecture — and, in doing so, holding up a mirror to modern India. In stints at the BBC, The Indian Express, NDTV, and Jagran New Media, he worked across formats and languages; mainly English, also Hindi and Punjabi. He was part of the crack team for the BBC Explainer project replicated across the world by the broadcaster. At Jagran, he developed editorial guides and trained journalists on integrity and content quality. He has also worked at the intersection of journalism and education. At the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, he developed a website that simplified academic research in management. At Bennett University's Times School of Media in Noida, he taught students the craft of digital journalism: from newsgathering and writing, to social media strategy and video storytelling. Having moved from a small town to a bigger town to a mega city for education and work, his intellectual passions lie at the intersection of society, politics, and popular culture — a perspective that informs both his writing and his view of the world. When not working, he is constantly reading long-form journalism or watching brainrot content, sometimes both at the same time.Read More

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