New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the government’s proposed amendments to the Constitution constitute an “attempted power grab” through the use of delimitation and gerrymandering.
Gandhi emphasised that his party would not permit southern, northeastern, northwestern, and smaller states to be treated unfairly. On the eve of a special three-day session of Parliament, during which bills related to the women’s quota law and delimitation will be discussed, Gandhi reaffirmed that the Congress party fully supports women’s reservation. He noted that Parliament unanimously passed a bill for this purpose in 2023, which is already part of the Constitution. “What the government is proposing now has nothing to do with women’s reservation. This amendment is an attempted power grab using delimitation and gerrymandering,” Gandhi said on X. “We will not allow ‘Hissa Chori’ from OBC, Dalit and Adivasi communities by ignoring the caste census data. We will also not allow Southern, North Eastern, North Western and smaller states to be treated unfairly,” the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha said. The proposal includes increasing Lok Sabha seats from the current 543 to up to 850 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law ahead of the 2029 parliamentary elections, following a delimitation exercise based on the last published census. According to the draft Constitution amendment bill to be introduced in Parliament, seats in state and Union territory assemblies would also be increased to ensure 33 per cent reservation for women. On Wednesday, top opposition leaders convened at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss a joint strategy on the bills brought for the implementation of the women’s quota law and delimitation. Speaking with reporters after the meeting, Kharge said that opposition parties have agreed to vote collectively against the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill, asserting that they are not against the issue of women’s reservation but opposed to the “politically motivated” manner in which the bill is being brought. PTI ASK ASK MPL MPL
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