New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi has written to leaders of all political parties seeking their support for an amendment to operationalise the Women’s Reservation Bill ahead of the 2029 general elections, triggering a sharp response from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
In his letter, the Prime Minister urged MPs to come together during a special Parliament session scheduled from April 16 to deliberate on the proposed amendment, which aims to ensure that one-third reservation for women in legislative bodies is implemented before the 2029 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
Referring to the Women’s Reservation law—also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam—passed in 2023, Modi said the time had come to implement it “in its true spirit” and described the move as a step towards strengthening democratic participation and representation.
The proposed amendment seeks to delink the implementation of the quota from the next Census and base it instead on the 2011 Census, a move aimed at advancing its rollout timeline.
However, Kharge hit back, accusing the government of seeking opposition support without sharing adequate details on the legislation. He said the lack of clarity on key aspects, including implementation and delimitation, raised concerns and reinforced the Opposition’s view that the Centre was rushing the process for “political mileage” rather than genuine empowerment of women.
“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. Though in your letter you have mentioned that there was broad consensus for its immediate implementation, you did not implement the same. 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,” Khargw wrote on X.
The Congress chief has also questioned the need for convening a special session without prior consultation and called for greater transparency and broader political discussions before moving ahead on such a significant reform.
“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. The constitutional amendments being planned will affect both the centre and the states and it is important that all parties and states, however small they may be, are heard in a democracy,” Kharge wrote further.
