VIJAYAWADA: Former Union Minister and APCC working president JD Seelam, along with APCC vice president (Administration In-charge) Kolanukonda Sivaji, strongly criticised the government’s handling of the Women’s Reservation Bill and delimitation process.
Addressing the media in Vijayawada on Friday, Seelam alleged that the 33% Women’s Reservation Bill is being used as a cover to push the 131st Constitutional Amendment and Delimitation Bill, convened in a special Parliament session on April 16.
He said the move is not genuinely intended for women’s empowerment but is a political strategy aimed at gaining advantage in the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, despite lacking the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment.
He described linking reservation with delimitation as a ‘major deception,’ pointing out that while the government claims to have conducted a caste census, it is proposing reservations based on outdated 2011 Census data, misleading women. He recalled that the Women’s Reservation Bill, passed on September 20, 2023.