Congress leader Sonia Gandhi expressed worries about the government’s focus on delimitation over women’s reservation in the upcoming special Parliament session on April 16. She criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly trying to delay the caste census and questioned the political motives behind the rushed legislative process. Gandhi highlighted the government’s refusal to hold an all-party meeting post the Tamil Nadu and West Bengal elections, accusing the Prime Minister of seeking political advantage.
Gandhi accused the government of rushing Bills through Parliament during the peak of election campaigns to gain a political edge and put the Opposition on the defensive. She emphasized that the opposition had pushed for implementing women’s reservation from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, rather than linking it to the completion of the Census. Referring to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, Gandhi pointed out the unanimous passage of the bill in a special session, which mandated one-third reservation for women in legislative bodies post the Census and delimitation process.
The Congress leader questioned the government’s sudden decision to amend Article 334-A to enforce women’s reservation from 2029, highlighting the delay and urgency in convening the special session. She criticized the government’s refusal to hold an all-party meeting post the West Bengal elections and called for a more consultative approach akin to the process followed for introducing reservation for women in panchayats and municipalities in 1993. Gandhi also raised concerns over the delayed Census operations and the government’s changing stance on conducting a caste census.
Gandhi emphasized the need for a comprehensive consultation process before implementing significant changes to the polity, suggesting that there is ample time for wider discussions during the monsoon session in mid-July. She stressed that the core issue lies in the delimitation process, which she deemed as perilous and an affront to the Constitution, rather than the already settled matter of women’s reservation.
