'Delimitation, not women's quota, is real issue': Sonia Gandhi
What's the story
Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has said that the real issue behind the Centre's decision to call a special session of Parliament this week is delimitation. She made these remarks in an op-ed published in The Hindu newspaper. According to Gandhi, the government's delimitation plan, "according to unofficially available information," "is extremely dangerous and an assault on the Constitution itself."
Political maneuvering
PM Modi being economical with truth: Gandhi
Gandhi has questioned the government's hurry to push bills during the special session, alleging it is a tactic to gain political advantage. "The heavens will not fall if the government were to call an all-party meeting after April 29 (after the polling in West Bengal) to discuss its proposals with the Opposition, allowing time for a public debate, and then have the Constitution Amendment Bills considered in the monsoon session."
Op-ed
Opposition leaders have written to the government thrice
She said there is simply no justification, "except narrative management during troubled times," for this tearing hurry to bulldoze extremely far-reaching changes to our polity. "Reservation for women is not the issue here...The real issue is delimitation, which, based on...information unofficially available, is extremely dangerous and an assault on the Constitution itself," Gandhi wrote. She said opposition leaders have written to the government thrice, requesting that an all-party meeting be convened after Bengal elections but that request has been rejected.
Reservation debate
Congress leader slams government over Women's Reservation Bill
The Congress leader also criticized the government's approach to the Women's Reservation Bill. She pointed out that it was the Centre that linked its implementation to the next Census, a condition opposed by opposition leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge. "Shri Mallikarjun Kharge had forcefully demanded that the reservation provision be implemented from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections itself...the government did not agree," she wrote. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, passed in 2023, reserves one-third of seats for women in legislative bodies.
Census delay
Gandhi hits out at Modi government over census delay
Gandhi also slammed the Modi government for delaying the 2021 Census, which she said deprived over 10 crore people of their legal entitlements under National Food Security Act. She dismissed claims that a caste census would delay the publication of Census 2027 as "just not true." The special session is set to begin on April 16, "yet till now, there has been no official proposal shared with MPs on what exactly the government wants the session to consider," she added.
Delimitation concerns
Delimitation must be politically equitable, warns Gandhi
Gandhi stressed that any delimitation should be based on past Census exercises and must be politically equitable. She warned that smaller states may face disadvantages with an increase in Lok Sabha strength. The government has planned two major amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. On Sunday, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju wrote to Congress chief Kharge, urging him to support the government's move.