The Congress said today that while they approve of the quota bill for women in principle, the way the government is implementing it through delimitation is wrong and politically motivated, and the Opposition parties will fight against it in parliament. The Constitution amendment bills, which need two-thirds majority to get passed, are expected to be tabled during an extended budget session starting on April 16.
At a press conference today held after a meeting of Opposition parties, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said: "We are in support of the Women's Reservation Bill but have objection to the government's approach. The government's action is politically motivated. Just to gag and suppress opposition parties, the government is doing this."
The Opposition parties, he reiterated, are not against the Women's Reservation Bill, which was backed by the Congress in 2010 and in 2023, and was passed unanimously by Parliament. What they objected to was delimitation, he said, claiming there has been "manipulation" in the delimitation.
Congress's Jairam Ramesh said the manner in which the Delimitation Commission is functioning, "it is clear that it has become a tool to win majority for the ruling party". "Women's reservation should be implemented, but we are totally against delimitation," he said.
"We are saying that whatever law is made in 2023 should be implemented. We all Opposition parties will fight in Parliament. We will oppose this bill," Kharge added.
In a post on social media platform X, Congress's Rahul Gandhi said, "What the government is proposing now has nothing to do with women's reservation. This amendment is an attempted power grab using delimitation and gerrymandering. We will not allow 'Hissa Chori' from OBC, Dalit and Adivasi communities by ignoring the caste census data. We will also not allow Southern, North Eastern, North Western and smaller states to be treated unfairly".
The Congress chief's reaction came a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote to the floor leaders of the House seeking support for the women's quota bill.
Twist In the Tale
Government sources said the delimitation bill needs only a simple majority, which the government has in both houses. The Special two-thirds majority is needed only for the other two constitutional amendment bills -- "The Constitution (131 amendment) Bill 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026.
The Whole Opposition On Board?
A host of Opposition leaders had attended the meeting at Kharge's Delhi residence today. Besides Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, the list included DMK's TR Baalu, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, Trinamool's Sagarika Ghosh, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant, NCP(SP)'s Supriya Sule, CPI leader Annie Raja, CPI-M's Nilotpal Basu, Independent MP Kapil Sibal, IUML's E T Mohammed Bashir and RSP's N K Premachandran. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had joined in virtually.
While Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party is not officially part of the India Bloc, it is on board with delimitation. Senior party leader Sanjay Singh attended the meeting at Kharge's home.
The Numbers Game
A concerted fight by the Opposition can indeed make things difficult for the government in both houses of parliament. Under the Constitution's Article 368, Constitutional amendments require a special majority in both Houses - meaning a majority of the total membership and two-thirds of members present and voting.
With an effective strength of 540 in the Lok Sabha, the two-thirds mark is approximately 360 votes if all members are present and voting. Any walkout or abstention by the Opposition will bring down the majority mark. The magic number for the Rajya Sabha is 163.
In the Lok Sabha, the ruling alliance, with 293 members falls short by 67 seats. In the Rajya Sabha, the NDA's strength of 142-plus members leaves it 21 seats shy of the required two-thirds majority.
Under the circumstances, without Opposition cooperation, the passage of these bills is virtually impossible.
Adding to the government's hurdles, neutral parties such as Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal and K Chandrasekhar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi have hardened their stance on delimitation. Unlike previous occasions when they extended support, this time they appear unwilling to come to the government's rescue.
Opposition Vehement About Delimitation
The government is expected to introduce three bills in this session. While one would deal with the woman's quota, another is a Delimitation Bill to set up a commission for redrawing constituencies to aid the quota implementation, and a third bill to align laws governing Union Territories with the new framework.
Under the delimitation bill, the number of Lok Sabha seats will be increased from the current 543 to up to 850 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 Lok Sabha polls. The exercise will be carried out on basis of the 2011 census. The stae assemblies will also see a rise in numbers.
The Opposition is vehemently against the delimitation bill, arguing that the government's formula for redrawing constituencies based on the 2011 census will only aid the NDA. It would leave south India high and dry. Since the southern states have effectively managed to control their population, their share of seats in parliament will drastically shrink compared to the states in north India's Hindi belt.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said: "They say that delimitation will prove helpful, but through delimitation, an attempt was made to benefit one party. The way constituencies were drawn here it was to benefit the BJP. If this bill is being brought with the same intention, then it will benefit only the BJP. We have to see all this."
"It is a black day for Tamil Nadu because we don't see the necessity of combining and clubbing the Women's Reservation Bill with the Delimitation Bill," said DMK MP Kanimozhi. "There is no clarity on how the delimitation will be done and the states which have comparatively lesser population are going to suffer. Union Government keeps saying that we will be taken care of but we see nothing like that in the Bill... If you go by the 2011 census, it will affect the southern states very badly," she said.
Former Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik wrote to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, saying his party will support the Bill if Odisha's political rights remain intact.
"We will welcome the Delimitation Bill only if Odisha's political rights remain intact. This is not just an issue of numbers. The bill hits directly at the spirit of cooperative federalism enshrined in the Constitution. Any reduction in political rights will undermine the aspirations of Odisha and its people," the BJD chief wrote.
