New Delhi : If Chanakya had been alive, he would have been shocked by your cunningness,” Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi quipped while taking a swipe at Amit Shah during the Women’s Reservation Act debate. A shrewd politician herself, Priyanka laid bare the NDA’s game plan. She argued that by linking women’s reservation to the controversial delimitation exercise, the NDA created a Catch-22 situation for the opposition.
The government tabled three bills, including a Delimitation Bill to redraw parliamentary constituencies based on the 2011 Census data. The opposition was quick to question the delimitation linkage. It framed the move as the BJP’s attempt to use the women’s reservation issue to redraw the political map in their favour for the 2029 polls. It made the path for the opposition thorny. Priyanka saw through this, suggesting that the BJP created a pincer movement – either support the bills as per its terms or risk being seen as opposing women’s rights.
Thus, the opposition unveiled a trump card of its own – caste census. The Women’s Reservation Bill became a battle of “rajnaitik kutilta” (political shrewdness). From Priyanka to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, the opposition was united on one aspect – a separate provision for OBC quota in the legislation. The 2011 Census, based on which the government proposed the delimitation exercise, did not have caste enumeration. It was included in the 2026 Census exercise after a gap of almost seven decades.
As long as the caste enumeration doesn’t happen, all sections of society will not get proper representation,” Priyanka said. By making the 2011 Census the basis for delimitation, PM Modi is attempting to snatch the rights of the OBC community. However, the Congress party will never allow this to happen,” the Wayanad MP further said. At the same time, she reminded the Parliament that the Congress was steadfast in its support for the Women’s Reservation Bill when it was passed in 2023.
Before Priyanka, it was Akhilesh Yadav who led the caste charge. In his usual inimitable style, interspersed with punches, Akhilesh accused the BJP of reducing “nari” (women) to a mere “nara” (slogan) by trying to push through the legislation without ensuring representation for women from backward communities. The poster boy of PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, and Alpsankhyak) was swift in calling out the BJP “conspiracy” behind its haste in getting the amendments passed.