INDIA Bloc unites to defeat Govt’s delimitation proposal

After the Constitutional (131st Amendment) Bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha, Opposition members described the Government’s attempt to link delimitation proposals with women’s reservation as a “nefarious attempt” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The bill was defeated by 68 votes.

It sought to expand the strength of the Lok Sabha, and revise the framework governing delimitation and implementation of women’s reservation.

The Opposition asserted that the defeat was a victory for democracy and the Constitution. The Opposition under the INDIA bloc, which vehemently protested the passage of bill, demanded that the Government should now implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the existing set up of the Lok Sabha for the 2029 elections.

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the bill brought by the government was an attack on the Constitution. The bill was not aimed at providing women’s reservation, but an attempt to change India’s electoral structure, he said.

Interestingly, the consolidation of the Opposition was made intact by the direct engagement between the Congress and the TMC. The two parties till now had differences in floor strategy in the Parliament.

Sources said that the Congress and the TMC opened a direct channel between Rahul and TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee to consolidate the Opposition’s stance.

“After the Bill was defeated, Rahul Gandhi called Abhishek Banerjee to thank him for playing a crucial role in defeating this Bill,” they added.

Talking to the media after the bill failed to secure a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, Rahul also said that if the PM is serious about providing women’s reservation in Parliament, he should bring the 2023 law, and the Opposition would extend its support outright.

“The way the Modi government presented women’s reservation made its passage impossible. The BJP government linked women’s reservation to delimitation and the old census, in which the OBC category was not included. We can never agree to this. What happened today is a huge victory for the country’s democracy and its integrity,” said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Asked about the BJP leaders accusing the Congress of being anti-women, Priyanka said, “Those who did nothing in Hathras, those who did nothing in Unnao, those who did nothing in Manipur and those who did nothing for women wrestlers are now talking about an anti-woman mindset?”

Another Opposition member from the Shiv Sena (UBT), former Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, however, diverged from her party’s stand and rued the defeat of the Women Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha, calling it a sad day for women who hoped to find themselves in the parliament or assembly. “Sad day for India’s women who hoped to find themselves in the parliament or assembly. I have a stand on women’s reservation and consistently have had it, and I will continue to express it. Deal with it,” Chauurvedi said in a statement.     

On Thursday, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had demanded that the Centre immediately implement the 2023 Act that gives 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and put on hold the process of delimitation of constituencies.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin hailed the defeat of the bill and said the southern State defeated Delhi and that the DMK would together defeat Delhi’s arrogance and the slaves who support that arrogance on the polling day, April 23. Stalin to lodge his protest had burnt the copies of the Bill a day earlier and his party held massive protest across the State.