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3 min readNew DelhiApr 17, 2026 04:33 AM IST
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress MPs K C Venugopal and Selja Kumari in Lok Sabha on Thursday. (PTI)
Targeting the BJP for “rushing” with the Bills to implement women’s reservation after delimitation, Congress Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday alleged the government began “finishing off democracy” by putting pressure on institutions, such as the EC and the judiciary, but now, an “open attack” has been launched on democracy with the constitutional amendment Bill.
Gandhi asked the government why can’t women get 33% quota from the existing strength of 543 seats in Lok Sabha. She said the Bill talks of increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats to up to 850 — to be done by a delimitation commission on the basis of the 2011 Census data. “This seems fine on the surface but the real meaning comes to the fore when one carefully reads it. It smells of politics,” she said.
“The three people selected by the government, who will form part of the delimitation commission, will decide the existence (wajood) of all states, and participation of India’s population and their importance in electoral process,” she said and accused the government of attempting to undermine the rights of OBCs by not conducting a caste census first and sticking to 2011 Census data.
“The government has already been working towards dismantling the democratic framework by putting pressure on the Election Commission, judiciary, media and other institutions, but this (the Constitutional amendment) is an open attack on democracy,” Gandhi said during a special session to discuss the Bills on women’s quota. “If this Bill is passed, democracy will be finished in the country.”
Taking a jibe at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, she said, “You have all come fully planned. Had Chanakya been alive today, he would also have been shocked by your cunningness.”
Gandhi delved into the background of the women’s reservation issue in legislative bodies during her 20-minute intervention.
“The PM said this issue was blocked for 30 years. This was started by a person called Nehru. Not the Nehru (Jawaharlal Nehru) they avoid so much but Motilal Nehru, who as the president of a committee prepared a list of 19 rights which were then passed as a resolution at the Karachi session of the Congress and formed the basis of giving women equal rights in Indian politics,” she said.
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She said it was Rajiv Gandhi who, as the prime minister, brought a Bill for women’s reservation in panchayats and nagar palikas and finally, the Bill for it was passed during the P V Narasimha Rao government of the Congress.
“Under the UPA, this was passed in the Rajya Sabha but a consensus could not be reached in the Lok Sabha. In 2018, Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi, calling for women’s reservation,” Gandhi said.
“In 2023, when this law was passed, the Congress supported it and today also, the Congress is strongly in support of women’s reservation. But the truth is that the debate is not on women’s reservation. The Bill that the government has brought has changed the direction of the debate,” Gandhi said.
Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
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