Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concern that the Centre is hastening the implementation of the women’s reservation law for “political mileage” by convening a special sitting of Parliament amid ongoing State elections.
In his letter dated April 11, Kharge responded to the Prime Minister’s communication on the proposed special session from April 16 to discuss the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023.
"I have just received your letter on the special session of Parliament for a discussion on the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam from the 16th of April," the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said.
Kharge noted that the legislation had been passed unanimously in September 2023 and recalled that the Congress had then pressed for its immediate implementation. "As you are aware, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 was passed by Parliament unanimously in September 2023. At that time, on behalf of the Indian National Congress, I had demanded that this important law should become effective immediately," he said.
He, however, questioned the delay and the current approach.
"It has been 30 months since then, and now this special sitting has been called without taking us into confidence and your government is seeking our cooperation again without revealing any details on the delimitation going to be done. You will appreciate that without details of the delimitation and other aspects, it would be impossible to have any useful discussion on this historic law," Kharge said.
He also disputed the government’s claim of prior consultations. "You mention in your letter that your government has engaged in dialogue with political parties regarding this. However, I am pained to point out that this goes against the truth since all the Opposition parties have been urging the government to call an all-party meeting after the current round of elections is over on April 29th, 2026 to discuss the Constitution amendments being contemplated," he said.
The timing of the session, Kharge argued, raised concerns. The calling of a special sitting during the ongoing State elections only reinforces the Congress’ belief that the government is hurrying the implementation of the law to gain "political mileage" rather than truly empower women, he said.
Referring to the government’s past decisions, he added, "I am also pained to write that the past record of the government in matters of public importance whether it is demonetisation, GST, census or even those pertaining to the federal structure like implementing Finance Commission recommendations and tax devolutions, does not inspire any confidence."
Kharge stressed that the proposed constitutional amendments, linked to delimitation, would have implications for both the Centre and the States.
"If the special sitting is meant to 'strengthen our democracy' and 'moving forward together, taking everyone along' as you write in the letter, then I would suggest that the government convene an all-party meeting any time after April 29th to discuss the delimitation issue which is being linked to the amendment to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023," he said.
The exchange comes ahead of the three-day special sitting of Parliament, during which the government is expected to introduce measures to operationalise the women’s reservation law before the 2029 general election, alongside a proposal to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha to 816 seats, including 273 reserved for women.
The Congress has also maintained that the delimitation exercise linked to the law could have “grave consequences” and requires wider consultation after the completion of the ongoing Assembly elections.
(With inputs from PTI)
