New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday slammed the Opposition leaders for not being serious about the issue of women’s reservation, saying instead of “only writing letters” to the government, they should come forward to discuss the proposed changes in the law.
Maintaining that an all-party meeting was convened on the matter, he assured the Opposition that the government was not doing anything on the bill without consultations with the political parties.
Rijiju’s response came soon after Congress’s Jairam Ramesh objected to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam’s assertion on convening an all-party meeting on amending the women’s quota law.
“The Finance Minister of India informed the House that there was an all-party meeting on the women’s reservation bill. Now, it is a fact that the Congress party and other opposition parties have been demanding an all-party meeting after the 29th of April because there is an election going on right now in five states. I want to categorically state there has been no all-party meeting till now,” Ramesh said.
Countering it, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju said that a meeting has been held with political parties.
He said that the government intends to enter into consultation with all parties on the women’s reservation bill.
“Whether it is all parties together, whether it is all parties in one table or parties one by one. This is a methodology, an option exercised by the government. Now, I expect the Congress party not to dictate to the government how to conduct a process of consultation,” Rijiju said.
He said the Congress is the only political party which is not coming forward and also demanding an all-party meeting.
While replying to the discussion on The Appropriation (No. 2) Bill, 2026 and The Finance Bill, 2026, Sitharaman said an all-party meeting was held on the matter of the women’s reservation bill, and many leaders participated in it.
“What the Finance Minister said here (in the House), I did not hear it. But it’s true that a meeting has been held with political parties. A collective meeting of NDA parties has also been held. We have also held meetings with other Opposition parties. We have also held a meeting with those who represent political parties here…DMK’s (P) Wilson, who is here, was part of the DMK’s delegation,” Rijiju asserted.
He maintained that “we are not doing anything (on the bill) without asking you (opposition)”.
“We have been telling you repeatedly to come and talk to us. Our behaviour is so good. They (Opposition) are not coming forward, and they are just writing letters,” Rijiju said, and asked the Opposition leaders not to “mislead” the House.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday wrote a letter to the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, asking why the government was in a “great hurry” to amend the women’s quota law.
In her reply to the two bills in the Rajya Sabha, which were later returned to the Lower House, Sitharaman mentioned that an all-party meeting was convened with the leaders.
“… An all-party meeting was held. All our leaders participated. Many leaders participated in it. All parties participated in the women’s reservation bill,” she said.
In that meeting, she said DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) was not present, but in the Upper House, they are claiming a reduction in the gender budget. “If you are really concerned about women, why couldn’t you attend that meeting along with the other party leaders? You don’t come to the meeting. You don’t show respect for women. But they feel that the gender budget amount has been decreased. Where has it decreased? It has, in fact, increased,” Sitharam said.
She was responding to observations made by DMK’s Wilson about the reduction in the gender budget.
The Finance Minister said that overall allocation under the gender budget has increased from Rs 4.49 lakh crore in 2025-26 BE (budget estimates) to Rs 5.02 lakh crore in BE 2026-27.
“So, within one year, BE to BE, there is this kind of an increase. In fact, this allocation is about 38 per cent higher than the actuals of 2024-25,” Sitharaman said.
Highlighting that women were not safe in Tamil Nadu, she cited a study by a Madurai-based NGO, which said there has been a steep rise of 40 per cent in crimes against women in the DMK-ruled state.
“Don’t come and shed crocodile tears that the women’s budget has gone down. It hasn’t gone down, but the situation there (Tamil Nadu) is serious. The study team took 90 cases, and it was shocking to note that in only three cases the accused were convicted. In the rest (of the cases), they were all roaming free,” the FM added. PTI AKV AKV SKC BAL BAL
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