New Delhi, April 20 -- The Congress on Monday said the striking down of the Modi government's delimitation push in the garb of women's quota was a defeat of "bulldozer politics" and that the Centre's agenda was not women's reservation but Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "preservation".
The Opposition party also demanded that the Centre immediately implement the women's quota on the existing Lok Sabha strength by bringing a Bill in Parliament's Monsoon Session or May-end.
The Congress asserted that women would not be fooled by the "BJP propaganda" on the women's quota issue as they know that the ruling party wants to push its political agenda in their name.
The Congress' assertion came days after the government's Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement women's quota and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated in the Lower House on Friday.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh told a news agency that the defeat of the government's "nefarious" designs to push delimitation in the garb of women's reservation was a victory of the Constitution and democracy.
"It was the defeat of the politics of bulldozer and a rushed delimitation. The Bill was not about women's reservation but one of pushing delimitation through deceit," Ramesh said.
He said the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed unanimously in September 2023, but it was not implemented despite Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge demanding that it be implemented from the 2024 general elections.
"Suddenly, the Bill (Act) was notified on the night of 16th April. This reflects the seriousness of the BJP about women's reservation in legislatures. They kept sleeping for 30 months," he added.
Union Home minister Amit Shah was giving the assurance that no state would lose out and seats would be increased in a manner that the
proportionality is maintained, but why was this not part of the Bill, Ramesh asked.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.