Fadnavis and Chidambaram clash Over women’s quota

A war of words erupted between Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday over the implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, with the former accusing the Opposition party of sabotaging plans to bring the women’s quota into force by 2029.

Earlier in the day, Chidambaram slammed Fadnavis for criticising Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his statements about women’s empowerment during his ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme in Pune on Saturday, while opposing the Bill that gives 33 per cent seats to women in Parliament and legislative assemblies. The former Union minister, in a post on X, attributed Fadnavis’s remarks to “cognitive failure”.

“Because the Constitution (106th Amendment) Bill providing for 33 per cent reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies was passed in Parliament in 2023. The Congress wholeheartedly supported the Bill in both Houses of Parliament,” he wrote. Rejecting Chidambaram’s charge, Fadnavis pointed out that while the Congress voted for the 2023 amendment knowing it was tied to post-census delimitation, the party later opposed fresh legislation in 2026 designed to expedite the process using 2011 census figures.

The BJP leader remarked that he also wished to acquire the art of having selective memory. “You very well know that the 106th Constitution Amendment Act, 2023 — the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam that you read and voted for - contains a clear precondition. Under the provisions for reservation of seats for women, ‘shall come into effect only after delimitation exercise has been conducted, which will happen based on the first census taken after the Act’s commencement’,” Fadnavis said on X.