INDIA Bloc Leaders to Oppose Delimitation move ; say 'Politically Motivated'

In a meeting of INDIA alliance leaders  held at the residence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, where the opposition’s strategy on this issue was discussed.

After the meeting, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, “We are united and we have decided to oppose the delimitation-related bill.”

Kharge stated that they are not against women’s reservation, but they oppose the way the government is bringing the bill, which is politically motivated.

Kharge said, “The government is doing this only to suppress the opposition parties. However, we have consistently supported the Women’s Reservation Bill. We emphasise that the previous amendments should be implemented first. They are playing some games regarding delimitation. All parties should fight together in Parliament”.

The congress president said,  “We will oppose this bill, but we are not against reservation for women. The way they have inserted it in the bill — whether it is delimitation — they have not even conducted the census. The executive is taking all the powers of the Constitution. Most of the powers given to Parliament and institutions, they can use anytime to change delimitation... They have already cheated us in Assam and Jammu-Kashmir.”

Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said that a meeting of all opposition parties was held yesterday. Among the three bills being introduced in Parliament, one is a Constitutional Amendment Bill and two are statutory bills. Discussions will be held on all three bills combined.

“Our demand in 2023 was also that this provision should be implemented from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections itself, but the government attached the condition of census and delimitation. Now the government is bringing these three bills in the middle of election campaigning in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu”,he said.

The meeting was attended by Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress General Secretaries K.C. Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh, DMK leader T.R. Baalu, Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghosh, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, and other opposition leaders.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav joined the meeting through digital means. Before the meeting, senior Congress leaders held a separate discussion on these bills.

It may be noted that to give concrete shape to 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, a bill will be introduced in Parliament on Thursday, which proposes to increase the current strength of the Lower House from 543 to 850 members. Along with this, the government is preparing to bring a bill for the formation of a Delimitation Commission and the related Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill), 2026.