Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a request on social media on Friday for support to the amended women's quota bill that was set to be put to a vote in the Lok Sabha later in the day.
The BJP-led NDA government — which has linked the quota to an allegedly “hasty” delimitation exercise to increase and redraw Lok Sabha seats — does not have the two-third majority needed to have the amendment bill passed on its own.
“Logical responses have been provided to dispel the misconceptions that were spread. Every apprehension has been addressed,” PM Modi claim in his X post.
The Congress-led Opposition, and the parties from the southern states in particular, have said a flawed and biased delimitation law is being pushed through “while using the women quota as smokescreen”.
But the PM in his X post argued, “For four decades, a great deal of politics has been played on the issue of women's reservation in the country. Now is the time that half the country's population must certainly receive its rights.”
{{/usCountry}}But the PM in his X post argued, “For four decades, a great deal of politics has been played on the issue of women's reservation in the country. Now is the time that half the country's population must certainly receive its rights.”
{{/usCountry}}The original bill for the quota was already passed in Parliament in 2023, with the Opposition also supporting it. But that was linked to the next census and delimitation. The government now wants to change that stipulation, and the South fears that mere population-based delimitation will cut its share eventually if not immediately. The government has promised a flat 50% increase with no change in shares; but that's not written in the law, the Opposition has argued.
The PM kept his argument focused on the women's quota portion of the debate: “Even after so many decades of independence, it is not right that Indian women have such minimal representation in the decision-making process…Please, after due consideration and with complete sensitivity, take a decision and vote in favor of women's reservation."
“The eyes of the country's millions of women are upon us all, upon our intentions, upon our decisions,” he added.
He added in another post: “I would say to all the Members of Parliament — keeping in mind your mother, sister, daughter, wife, listen to your conscience. This is a great opportunity to serve the woman power of the country… Do not deprive them of new opportunities.”
What Oppn has argued
But Congress MP Shashi Tharoor articulated some of the pending questions in his Lok Sabha speech earlier. He said the delimitation has been proposed by the government in haste, “the same haste that you showed on demonetisation”.
“And unfortunately, we all know what damage that (demonetisation) did to the country. Delimitation will turn out to be political demonetisation,” said the Kerala MP, referring to the demonetisation of high-denomination notes by PM Narendra Modi's government in November 2016.
“Don't do it,” Tharoor said.
Also read | What's the G-word at heart of delimitation fear? Gerrymandering, explained in the Indian context
He also pointed out that the laws being proposed simply speak of census-based reallocation of seats. That would mean the southern states like Kerala could have a lower share of seats as they have controlled their population, while Hindi-belt states like UP and Bihar gain even more seats and larger proportion of Parliament.
Union home minister Amit Shah has said there would be a flat 50% increase, meaning proportionate share would stay the same. Tharoor asked where it is written down.
What law says vs Shah's claim
“I want to say the 50% formula that suddenly the home minister came and presented to us yesterday, regarding the delimitation exercise, promising that no state will lose its current number of seats and total House strength will increase by 50% — this remains a precarious political assurance and not a legislative certainty,” he said.
“Because the pledge is fundamentally contradicted by the existing text of the legislation itself, which gives total freedom to the Delimitation Commission appointed by the government, whose decisions cannot be challenged in a court of law,” he underlined.
“Since this formula (promised by Amit Shah) is not codified as an immutable constitutional or legislative safeguard, it could be easily discarded or altered by a simple parliamentary majority, offering no guarantee that it will survive beyond the very short term,” he argued.
Tharoor also spoke against the very idea of increasing seats anyhow, as it would mean less time for each MP to raise issues.