Not women's bill, but attempt to redraw electoral map: RaGa
What's the story
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed the Lok Sabha on the women's quota bill, saying the current proposal is not a women's empowerment bill; rather, the move is aimed at changing India's electoral map. "This has nothing to do with the empowerment of women. This is an attempt to change the electoral map," he said. He argued that the 2023 bill was the "real legislation."
Bill
He called it 'shameful act'
Calling the attempt a "shameful act," he said women are a "central and driving force in our national imagination, in our national perspective." "Women are a central force, a driving force in our national imagination and in our national perspective. All of us, every single one in the room, have been influenced, taught, and learned a lot from women in their lives," he said.
Joke
'PM and I don't have wife issue'
That being said, he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi do not have the "wife issue," he joked. "Prime Minister and myself don't have that wife issue so we don't get that input but we have our mothers and our sisters," he said, drawing laughter from the MPs seated in the Lower House.
BJP
Is BJP scared, asks Gandhi
He also took his aim at the BJP, asking the ruling party if it was scared of what was happening in the politics of the country that it was trying to rejig the Indian political map. "You did it in Assam, J&K, and now imagining you can do it in India. You need a constitutional amendment to do that," he said.
Twitter Post
'Nothing short of an anti-national act'
#WATCH | LoP, Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi says, "You are telling the south Indian, the north-eastern states and small states in India that for the BJP to remain in power, we are going to take away representation from you. This is nothing short of an anti-national act. And we are not… https://t.co/uHxoPUlg4u pic.twitter.com/XEh4zSLwJS
— ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2026
Caste
'Bill meant to sideline caste census'
Then turning to the caste census, he said that Home Minister Amit Shah has claimed that it has begun. But "the point is whether or not the caste census is going to be used in representation in Parliament and state assemblies." "Everyone knows the kind of discrimination faced by OBCs, Dalits, minority communities, and women...This bill is meant to sideline the caste census."