Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said Narendra Modi-led government’s proposed move to implement women’s reservation would have “grave consequences” and increase the number of parliamentary
seats which would be in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
Addressing the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Kharge said the government has suddenly become active in implanting women reservation.
“In this context, a session of Parliament is scheduled to be held between April 16 and 18 to address the matter of providing 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies. To date, we have not received any formal proposal from the government regarding this matter. We have got to know some points only after reading an article authored by the prime minister,” Kharge said.
PTI quoted him saying that this move is a “violation” of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), and the government is keen to pass the Constitutional Amendment Bill in “utmost haste”.
“Based on the information we have received so far, the government wants to implement women’s reservation starting from the 2029 elections. In addition, it wants to increase the current seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies by 50%,” the Congress president said.
“It wants to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha from 543 to 816. There will also be a proportional increase in the state assemblies,” he said while adding that the proposal will have “grave consequences”.
“The Modi government is calling this parliamentary meeting with the intention of gaining political advantage. It wants to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill as quickly as possible,” Kharge said.
“We do not require a certificate from anyone regarding issues such as the welfare of women and the marginalised sections of society…Smt Sonia Gandhi and Shri Rahul Gandhi have written numerous letters on this subject. During the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held in Hyderabad in 2023, we engaged in an in-depth discussion on this issue and urged the Modi government to convene a special session of Parliament to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill,” he pointed out.
He further said that his party will formulate a collective strategy with others in the opposition to work in this matter “unitedly”.
“Therefore, following this meeting, we will formulate a collective strategy by holding discussions on these issues with our colleagues in the opposition as well. We will move forward unitedly,” he added.
PTI quoted Kharge saying the opposition parties, along with him, had written to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, requesting that the government convene an all-party meeting after April 29, the final day of polling for the West Bengal elections, to facilitate a serious and substantive discussion on this matter.
However, despite their collective appeals, the government disregarded their suggestions, opting instead to prioritise narrative-building and electoral gains, Kharge alleged.
The meeting was chaired by Kharge and attended by former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Sachin Pilot, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, former Union ministers Ambika Soni and Anand Sharma were also present.
This comes days ahead of the three-day sitting of Parliament during which the government aims to table bills to implement the Women’s Reservation Act before the 2029 parliamentary polls and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816, with 273 reserved for women.
Following the meeting, Rahul Gandhi shared a post on Facebook, “”Attended the Congress Working Committee meeting at Indira Bhawan, ahead of the special session of Parliament on Women’s Reservation Bill. The Congress remains steadfastly committed to ensuring women’s empowerment and social justice.”
