RANEBENNUR(HAVERI DISTRICT): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserted that the BJP has never consistently demanded 33% reservation for women in legislative bodies, while reiterating that the Congress does not oppose the quota.
Speaking at a programme in Ranebennur town, Haveri district, where he inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for various developmental works, Siddaramaiah said that the Women’s Reservation Bill had already been passed in both Houses of the Parliament in 2023. He, however, objected to linking the implementation of the reservation with the process of constituency delimitation.
He recalled that reservation for women in local bodies was introduced through the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments during the tenure of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. “The BJP never demanded 33% reservation for women in district and taluk panchayats earlier. Now, they are raising the issue for political reasons,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah expressed concern that the delimitation based on population would be detrimental to southern states. “If representation is increased by 50%, Karnataka’s seats would rise to 42, while northern states would gain disproportionately. Our opposition is to this imbalance, not to women’s reservation. We support women’s reservation,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah further stated that any constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha and ratification by at least half of the states. He said the Congress-led opposition alliance has opposed the delimitation aspect, not the reservation itself.
Questioning the delay in implementation, he asked why PM Narendra Modi had not enforced the Bill despite it being passed with an overwhelming majority. “Had the Bill been introduced without linking it to delimitation, there would have been no opposition,” Siddaramaiah said, accusing the PM of politicising the issue in view of upcoming elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
‘Deliberately allowed to fail’
Taking to social media platform ‘X’, the CM said that the Women’s Reservation Bill was introduced only to be “deliberately allowed to fail” as part of a political strategy.
Calling the move an “insult to the women of India” and “a betrayal of their long-standing demand for fair representation in legislative bodies”, the CM said women across the country will not “forgive or forget this injustice”. Siddaramaiah said that Karnataka will stand united with other southern States in opposing any move that undermines their political representation.
He accused the Union Government of rushing the Bill without adequate debate or consensus-building, claiming it was a calculated attempt to portray the Opposition as anti-women.
“Indian women are not naive, they can see through such political theatre,” he said, criticising the PM for not consulting the Opposition parties or senior women leaders on a matter affecting nearly half the population.
“There was no transparency, no effort to build consensus and only an expectation of blind support. This is an affront to democracy,” he said.
“Women’s representation cannot be made contingent on a future and uncertain exercise. If the intent were genuine, it could have been implemented immediately,” the CM added.
He noted contradictions between references to earlier census data and claims of a potential 50% increase in seats, which he said cast doubt on the Centre’s intentions.