KALABURAGI: Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of misleading people over the rollout of women’s reservation, arguing that the government could implement the 33 per cent quota without waiting for delimitation.
He questioned why the government could not reserve one-third of the existing seats for women under the current strength of the House.
“You could implement the one-third reservation for women right now. Given the House's current strength and the current delimitation, you could simply allocate one-third of those seats. What is stopping you?" said Kharge.
Kharge also alleged that the government was politicising the issue to discredit the opposition, stressing that the Congress had previously backed the legislation and had made efforts to ensure its passage.
"This is purely a ploy to defame others, to malign the opposition. If we opposed it, why would we try to pass the law earlier? This is just another one of PM Modi’s tactics; he wants to push this agenda forward while deceiving the public with lies,” Kharge said.
Passed in a special session of Parliament in September 2023, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam amended the Constitution to reserve 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the Delhi Assembly for women.
Earlier, Mallikarjun Kharge wrote a fourth letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 16, seeking an immediate all-party meeting to discuss delimitation proposals before they are finalised and brought to Parliament, 2026 and defeated on April 17, 2026, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026.
He noted that the government had earlier introduced a Delimitation Constitutional Amendment Bill at short notice in April without consensus, which was defeated in Parliament on April 17 after it failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha.
"You may kindly recall that I had first written to you on April 11, 2026, to convene an All-Party meeting before bringing any Constitutional Amendment Bill on Delimitation. You did not do so. Thereafter, you made the Bills public late on April 14, 2026, and convened a special session on April 16, 2026. The Constitutional Amendment Bill on Delimitation failed to muster the necessary two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 2026, by a decisive margin," said Kharge.
Pointing to sustained opposition efforts, Kharge said the Congress leadership has repeatedly sought cross-party consultation. He noted that the latest letter is his fourth formal attempt to push the executive toward structured consultation before bringing fresh legislation.
"Thereafter, on July 16, 2026 and August 27, 2026, I wrote to you again, repeating our request for an All-Party meeting. I am now doing so for a fourth time," he said.
(With inputs from ANI)
