Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday asserted that the India Alliance MPs are “not anti-women”, and the ruling NDA government “wants to gain power so that any further delimitation law can be passed and amended with a simple majority in the House.”
He said that Congress MPs are opposing the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill and the Delimitation Bill in the Lok Sabha because it contains provisions related to delimitation.
Addressing ANI from the Parliament complex, Kharge said, “We are not anti-women and we have been working for one-third women’s reservation for a long time. We unanimously supported the 2023 amendment and passed it. However, under the guise of this, they introduced another amendment which consolidated the women’s reservation and delimitation bills by adding delimitation provisions.”
He further said that the BJP intends to change the structure of the Constitution and take over the executive power.
He further said, “By bringing these three bills together, they wanted to gain power so that any law related to delimitation can be passed or amended by a simple majority in the House. You should do it within 543 members. After the next census or caste census is completed, you can accomplish it in the next election. Your intention is to change the structure of the Constitution and take the executive power into your hands.”
These comments come after the BJP-led government failed to secure the required two-thirds majority to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha.
This bill was related to implementing reservation for women through delimitation. In the voting held after a long debate, 298 members supported the bill while 230 opposed it, resulting in the bill being defeated.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla confirmed that the bill could not be passed as it did not meet the constitutional criteria. The government had introduced three interrelated bills, including the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, but Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju later said the remaining bills would not be considered further.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier accused the opposition parties of blocking a key reform aimed at providing 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies.
Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, said they supported women’s reservation, but opposed linking it to delimitation, calling it an attempt to change India’s electoral structure.
