Congress flags ‘grave consequences’ of delimitation tied to Women’s Reservation Act amendments

Kharge said delimitation exercise requires a thorough deliberation, asserting that his party would formulate a collective strategy with others in the opposition

The Congress on Friday expressed concern over the proposed delimitation exercise, which would accompany amendments to the Women’s Reservation Act, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge saying that it would have “grave consequences”.

Kharge said the delimitation exercise requires a thorough deliberation. (INC India website)

At a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said that the plan to increase Lok Sabha and assembly seats by 50% across the states, will create a divide between the north India and south India. Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy dished out data to show how the south Indian states stand to lose if the government pushes it’s proposed delimitation.

Addressing the meeting, Kharge said the delimitation exercise requires a thorough deliberation, asserting that his party would formulate a collective strategy with others in the opposition to move forward “unitedly”. He said the government is convening the sitting of Parliament from April 16 with the sole intention of securing 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”.

According to two senior leaders present in the meeting, the Congress would have to walk a tightrope between it’s stiff opposition towards the delimitation exercise and the government’s attempt to roll out 33% women’s reservation in 2029. “Everyone was wary of the proposed delimitation exercise as it would further widen the gap between the south Indian states and north India in terms of seats in Lok Sabha. But many leaders also advocated that the Congress must support the upcoming amendments to women reservation law,” said one of the leaders.

Another leader said, “Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi herself said that we must support the amendments to the women reservation bill. Leaders such as Sachin Pilot and Mukul Wasnik also advocated a similar stance.”

The Congress is in a bind as it was their demand to implement the women reservation act early.

The Centre will resume third half of the budget session on April 16 and they have indicated that two bills will be bought: to amend the women reservation act and to set up a delimitation commission.

“Therefore, following this meeting, we will formulate a collective strategy by holding discussions on these issues with our colleagues in the opposition as well. We will move forward unitedly,” said Kharge, who chaired the meeting.

Others present at the meeting included LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Sachin Pilot.

Reacting to Kharge’s comment, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan posted on X: “…Women’s reservation is not about political credit; it is about dignity, representation and the rightful empowerment of women. India’s women deserve outcomes, not recurring promises that never translate into reality.”