The Congress on Friday intensified its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of backtracking on the implementation of women’s reservation and attempting to claim exclusive credit ahead of crucial elections.
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Prime Minister has begun writing articles to portray himself as the “sole champion” of women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies from 2029, while overlooking the government’s earlier stance that delayed its rollout.
“Actually, he owes an apology to the women of India,” Ramesh said, referring to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. He noted that while the legislation—providing 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies—was passed unanimously in Parliament, the Congress had pushed for its implementation from the 2024 elections.
Ramesh argued that the government had linked the rollout of the law to the completion of the Census and a subsequent delimitation exercise, both of which he claimed were delayed for years. “This was not acceptable to the Prime Minister, who made the reservation dependent on the delimitation and Census exercises that he had failed to conduct and then dithered on for many years,” he said.
He further contended that nearly 30 months after the law’s passage, the government is now attempting to “change its narrative” by downplaying the need for Census-linked delimitation, despite indications that Census results could be ready by 2027. “He wants us to forget the Census and forget the census-based delimitation on the grounds that it will take too long,” Ramesh said, alleging that the shift is politically motivated.
Linking the issue to upcoming elections, the Congress leader accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to consolidate women voters in states such as Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. “It’s a narrative based on lies and equivocation, all undertaken with the hope that women of these states will flock to the BJP,” he said.
The Congress also targeted the Election Commission of India, alleging that it had functioned as a “subordinate office of the Union Home Ministry,” while claiming that the ruling party was facing electoral setbacks.
Describing the move as a “U-turn,” Ramesh said it underscored the government’s reluctance to engage with the opposition and reflected a lack of planning. He accused the Prime Minister of attempting to deflect attention from governance and foreign policy challenges.
The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, passed in 2023, is widely seen as a landmark step toward enhancing women’s representation in legislatures. However, its implementation—linked to delimitation following the next Census—remains a contentious political issue, with opposition parties demanding an earlier rollout and the government maintaining that procedural requirements must be completed first.