Mumbai, Aug 24 (IANS) A sharp political exchange has erupted between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Indian National Congress over the implementation timeline of the 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies. Responding to critical remarks by senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday accused the Congress of practising “selective memory” and hypocrisy regarding women’s political empowerment.
The debate centres on the mechanics of operationalising the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 – popularly known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. CM Fadnavis said that under the original 2023 legislation, the 33 per cent quota for women was explicitly tied to two prerequisites: a post‑commencement population Census followed by a delimitation exercise to redraw constituency boundaries. Because the national Census faced delays due to the COVID‑19 pandemic, carrying out a fresh Census and subsequent delimitation would push the implementation of the reservation beyond the 2029 general elections, he added.
“To bypass this delay and ensure women’s reservation takes effect in time for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA government introduced fresh constitutional amendment bills in 2026. The proposed 2026 legislation sought to enable delimitation based on existing 2011 Census data and adjust Lok Sabha seat distributions,” said the Chief Minister.
Addressing Chidambaram’s statements, CM Fadnavis highlighted that Congress voted for the 106th Amendment Act in 2023 knowing full well that its text contained the post‑Census delimitation clause. He alleged that while Congress supported the 2023 Bill to join the public consensus, the party’s opposition to the government’s 2026 legislative effort directly hindered the fast‑tracking of the reservation for 2029.
“The moment the real opportunity for early implementation arose, the true colours of the Congress became evident,” CM Fadnavis stated, reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to implementing women’s reservation by the 2029 parliamentary elections despite opposition hurdles.
Earlier, Chidambaram said, “CM Maharashtra, Mr Devendra Fadnavis, is reported to have said Rahul Gandhi makes big statements about women empowerment on stage. But when it comes to passing the Women’s Reservation Bill, he and his party staunchly opposed it. I am sure the statement was due to cognitive fatigue. Because the Constitution (106th Amendment) Bill providing for 33 per cent reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies was passed in Parliament in 2023. The Congress wholeheartedly supported the Bill in both Houses of Parliament.”
Congress leaders, including Chidambaram and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, have maintained that their support for women’s reservation is unequivocal, but they have consistently demanded immediate, unconditional implementation without delaying tactics or complex constitutional restructuring attached to fresh delimitation frameworks. The opposition contends that linking implementation to future delimitation exercises was a design flaw of the government’s original 2023 Bill.
–IANS
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