New Delhi : Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju engaged in a heated exchange on Saturday over the women’s reservation bill, as a political deadlock continues over the Centre’s proposal to link its implementation with the upcoming delimitation exercise. The war of words began after Rijiju responded to a video of Rahul Gandhi speaking about women’s freedom of expression and urged the Congress leader to back the women’s quota legislation.
With the Monsoon session of Parliament virtually stalled since July 20, Rijiju has reached out to Rahul a couple of times over the past week regarding the passage of the constitution amendment bill linked to delimitation and women’s reservation. Rijiju again appealed to Rahul on Saturday. He found perfect timing. Sharing a video of Rahul calling for greater freedom of expression for women, the minister said there appeared to be a “visible change of heart” in the Leader of the Opposition (LoP).
The women’s reservation bill, or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was passed by both Houses of Parliament in 2023. It seeks to reserve 33% of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. However, the 2023 Act tied its rollout to a future census (a fresh exercise has begun this year). It would have pushed its implementation past 2034. The proposed exercise will see the total number of Lok Sabha seats rise from 543 to 850. Out of them, 33% or 273 seats will be reserved for women.
However, sources said Rahul conveyed to the Union Minister that linking women’s reservation to delimitation was “not acceptable” to the Opposition. Rijiju is learnt to have reached out to Rahul over phone on August 6 as well. This time, Rahul is learnt to have told him that the Congress would discuss the issue internally and with is INDIA bloc allies and then communicate its stance.
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