Delimitation is Real Agenda Of BJP Govt, Says Congress

New Delhi: The Congress launched a sharp attack on the Centre over a set of bills slated for introduction in the Lok Sabha, alleging that their “true intent” was to push a politically motivated delimitation exercise under the guise of implementing the women’s reservation law. The party asserted that the proposals, in their current form, must be “rejected completely.”

Following a strategy meeting of I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders ahead of the special sitting of Parliament, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Opposition would not allow the House to be “hijacked by flawed delimitation bills disguised as women’s reservation.” In a post on X, he said the bloc stood united and would “fight this devious assault on our democracy with all our strength.”

The meeting, held in Kharge’s chamber in the Parliament House complex, was attended by several senior leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, along with representatives from multiple Opposition parties.

Ramesh alleged that while the government was “packaging and marketing” the proposals as women’s reservation, their core objective was linked to delimitation. He warned that the exercise, if carried out as proposed, could disproportionately benefit more populous states where the BJP currently holds strength, thereby reducing the relative representation of other states in the Lok Sabha.

He pointed to past delimitation exercises in Assam and Jammu and Kashmir as examples of what he termed the “diabolical” functioning of the government, asserting that the bills’ “content is devious and their damage enormous.” The Opposition, he said, continued to demand that 33 per cent of the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats be reserved for women, including quotas for SC, ST and OBC communities, calling it a more democratic and constitutionally aligned approach.

With the ruling NDA holding 292 seats and the Opposition 233, the passage of the Constitution amendment bill will hinge on securing a two-thirds majority of members present and voting, setting the stage for a high-stakes parliamentary showdown.