New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on Sunday accused Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju of “lying” and misleading the country over the issue of women’s reservation, asserting that his party will fully support implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill but would oppose any attempt to link it with delimitation.
Speaking to IANS, Tiwari said the Congress had backed the legislation when it was first brought during the UPA governments and also supported the Bill when it was introduced by the present government in 2023.
“Kirien Rijiju is lying, misleading people, making false statements, and trying to confuse the country. We brought the Women’s Reservation Bill when the UPA-1 and UPA-2 governments were in power. Even when it was introduced in 2023 by this government, we supported it,” Tiwari said.
He stressed that women’s reservation and delimitation were separate issues and called on the government to implement the legislation without attaching conditions.
“But women’s reservation and delimitation are two different issues. Bring the women’s reservation, implement it, and we will fully support it in 2029,” the Congress leader said.
Tiwari also accused the government of seeking to use women’s reservation as a pretext for delimitation and said Congress would oppose any move that, in his view, could disadvantage states such as Assam and West Bengal.
“But if they want to use it as a pretext for delimitation…, we will not allow that,” he said.
His remarks come amid a fresh political exchange between Congress and the government over the implementation of the women’s reservation law and its possible linkage with delimitation.
Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Saturday responded to Rijiju’s remarks on the Women’s Reservation Bill, saying the legislation was unanimously passed in 2023 with the “full support of Congress” and questioning why it had not yet been implemented.
Taking to X, Gandhi said, “Mr Rijiju, who would know better than you, as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs – that the Women’s Reservation Bill 2023 has already been passed unanimously, with the full support of the Congress.”
“The question is, why has it still not been implemented even after three years, and why do you now want to unnecessarily link it to delimitation? Implement the 2023 law. Without any conditions,” Gandhi added.
Rijiju had responded to Gandhi’s remarks on women by saying that Congress should now have no difficulty in supporting the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament.
The exchange followed Gandhi’s comments in an Instagram post on Friday, expanding on his response during his “Ask Me Anything” session on Thursday, where he spoke about the need to ensure greater freedom and space for women in Indian society.
Gandhi said no country could achieve true progress or fulfil its potential if women were unable to express themselves freely. He stressed the need to bring women’s voices back into public discourse and create an environment where they can pursue what they want.
–IANS
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