New Delhi [India], April 10 (ANI): Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “hypocrisy and deception” regarding the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill.
In a post on X, Ramesh accused the government’s decision to delink the reservation (implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) from the Census and delimitation as a desperate “U-turn” designed to salvage the BJP’s prospects in the ongoing assembly elections.
He further alleged that the Prime Minister is attempting to project himself as the “sole champion” of the cause to cover up “monumental failures in governance” and setbacks in foreign policy.
“The Prime Minister has started writing articles in the media, trying to project himself as the sole champion of women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha from 2029 onwards,” posted Ramesh.
In a blistering critique of the government’s latest legislative push, Ramesh highlighted the delay since the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was first passed in September 2023. He pointed out that the Congress party had demanded immediate implementation for the 2024 General Elections.
“Actually, he owes an apology to the women of India. When the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 was passed by Parliament in 2023 unanimously, the Indian National Congress had demanded its implementation from 2024 itself. But this was not acceptable to the PM, who made the reservation dependent on the delimitation and census exercises that he had failed to conduct and then dithered on for many years,” Ramesh said.
He alleged that the PM personally insisted on making the reservation dependent on a new Census and a subsequent delimitation exercise–processes that the government has “dithered on for many years.”
Ramesh noted that while the government claims the Census would take “too long,” the Census Registrar has already clarified that results will be available by 2027.
“Thirty months later, facing defeat in the Assembly elections, the PM has changed his mind. He wants us to forget the Census and forget the census-based delimitation on the grounds that it will take too long. This is despite the fact that his Census Registrar has clarified that the results will be out by 2027,” he said.
Ramesh also claimed that the change in stance was politically motivated and aimed at influencing voters in states like Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. He echoed recent party sentiments that a rushed delimitation–potentially increasing Lok Sabha seats to 816–could disadvantage Southern and Eastern states while magnifying the political heft of the Hindi heartland.
“It’s a narrative that is based on lies and equivocation, all undertaken with the hope that the women of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal will flock to the BJP. After all, the BJP has no worthwhile narrative on any other issue in these states,” he alleged.
With the Special Parliament Session set for April 16, the government now plans to bypass these requirements to roll out the quota by 2029. Ramesh termed this a “U-turn” that exposes a “total lack of planning.”
“This is a U-turn by the Modi government, one that exposes its unwillingness to engage with the Opposition and its total lack of planning. That said, Modi being who is already claiming credit for the U-turn as well. There is simply no limit to his hypocrisy and deception,” he said, adding that the move was aimed at covering up monumental failures in governance and severe setbacks to foreign policy.
Ramesh reiterated the Congress’s demand for a “quota within a quota” for OBC women, an issue the party plans to “fight for” during the special session next week.
As the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meets today in Delhi, the party is expected to finalise a strategy that supports the concept of reservation while aggressively attacking the “hypocrisy” of its implementation timeline, ahead of a three-day special session of Parliament scheduled to begin on April 16.
This comes as the Parliament is set to meet for a three-day special session from April 16, with a focus on the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill.
The Congress CWC meeting is expected to focus on the party’s strategy ahead of the special session, where the government is likely to introduce amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam to streamline its implementation. The legislation aims to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
The proposed changes would take the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to around 816, with nearly one-third reserved for women. The legislation, along with a Delimitation Bill, is expected to be introduced as Constitutional amendments. (ANI)