Several opposition parties on Wednesday decided to unitedly vote against the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament, while asserting that they are not against reservation for women in legislative bodies.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the opposition parties are opposed to the manner in which the bill is being brought and alleged that it is politically motivated.
The leaders of several INDIA bloc constituents, besides the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), met at Kharge's residence here on Wednesday to evolve a joint strategy in Parliament during its three-day special sitting starting Thursday.
The government intends to bring the women reservation bill, along with a Constitution amendment bill, to be taken up for consideration and passage on the first day of the special sitting of Parliament.
"All of us are in favour of the women reservation bill, but have reservations on the way in which it is being brought. It is politically motivated. Just to gag and suppress opposition parties, the government is doing this....
"We are continuously supporting women's reservation. We are insisting that an earlier amendment that was passed be implemented. They (the BJP-led Centre) are playing tricks with delimitation. Therefore, all parties have taken a decision unitedly to oppose this bill," Kharge told reporters after the meeting.
He said while the opposition parties support the Women's Reservation Bill, the way the government has brought it, it seems the move is politically motivated.
"We have consistently supported women's reservation -- in 2010 and again in 2023, when the Constitution amendment was passed unanimously. Our demand is simple -- implement the amendment instead of using it as a political tool," he said.
Accusing the Centre of playing tricks on delimitation, the Congress chief said the opposition leaders have unitedly decided to oppose this bill.
"Let me make it clear, we are not against women's reservation. We are against the government's attempt to link it to an unclear census and a future delimitation process. The executive is taking powers that should remain with institutions and Parliament, creating scope to alter delimitation whenever it suits them politically.
"We have already seen such manipulation and deception in Assam and Jammu and Kashmir. That is why we will continue to fight unitedly on this issue," Kharge said.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who was also part of the discussions, said the Congress unequivocally supports women's reservation, adding that Parliament had unanimously passed a bill in this regard in 2023 and it 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.
"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," Gandhi said in a post on X.
Congress leader K C Venugopal also said on X: "The government's delimitation move is dangerous and comes with grave concerns about its impact on India's democratic setup, especially the federal framework giving states a fair share of power at the Centre."
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the manner in which the Delimitation Commission is functioning, "it is clear that it has become a tool to win a majority for the ruling party".
"We are totally against the delimitation move. Women's reservation should be implemented, but we are totally against delimitation," he said.
Ramesh said all opposition parties want that one-third reservation be given to women in Parliament and state assemblies, and that it be implemented based on the current Lok Sabha strength of 543.
He said they too want women's reservation to be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
"All opposition parties are completely against the provisions of delimitation. We will participate in the debate in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and oppose it," the former Union minister said.
"In the year 2023, Article 334(A) was incorporated into the Constitution. It provided for granting one-third reservation to women by consensus. We want that provision to be implemented immediately.
"Our demand in 2023 was also the same -- that this provision should be implemented starting from the 2024 Lok Sabha election -- but the government had made it conditional on a census and delimitation," he said, adding that the Centre is bringing these bills in the midst of poll campaigning in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien said on X: "We are doing all what it takes to defeat the stunt being presented as a Bill in the Lok Sabha."
CPI(ML) Liberation leader Dipankar Bhattacharya said the opposition must unitedly defeat this "assault" on the Constitution and stop this "sinister" delimitation design.
In a post on Facebook, he said: "The government must not be allowed to rob southern India and smaller states and India's under-represented bahujan community of their due share in the name of women's reservation."
Besides Kharge and Gandhi, the other leaders at the meeting included DMK's T R Baalu, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, TMC's Sagarika Ghosh, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant, and NCP-SP's Supriya Sule, with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav joining virtually.
CPI leader Annie Raja, CPI-M's Nilotpal Basu, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, Independent MP Kapil Sibal, IUML's E T Mohammed Bashir and RSP's N K Premachandran also attended the meeting, besides Congress general secretaries Venugopal and Ramesh.
The special three-day sitting of Parliament will be held from April 16 to April 18, during which amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, commonly known as the Women's Reservation Act, mandating 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, will be brought for implementation in 2029.
The total strength of the ruling NDA in the Lok Sabha stands at 292, while the major opposition parties have 233 MPs. For the Constitution amendment bill to be through, it requires a two-thirds majority of those present in the House at the time of voting.