Time for PM to make amends for 'sin' of using women to push political agenda: Cong

The Congress on Tuesday reiterated its demand that the government must convene an all-party meeting to discuss how the women's quota law can be put into effect with the existing strength of Lok Sabha from 2029 onwards, saying it is now time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make amends for his ''sins of using India's women'' to drive through his personal political agenda. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said now that the election campaign is over and his ''mischievous'' move to ram through a ''diabolical'' delimitation of Lok Sabha has failed miserably because of Opposition unity and solidarity, it is time for the PM to do what the Opposition has been unitedly and consistently demanding since mid-March 2026. ''An all-party meeting should be convened to discuss how the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, (that was finally notified in panic only in the late hours of April 16, 2026) can be put into effect with the existing strength of the Lok Sabha from 2029 onwards. It is possible. It is desirable. It is essential,'' he said on X. Women's reservation was never the issue during the special session of Parliament, he claimed. ''The agenda then was only delimitation for the PM's political preservation,'' Ramesh said. ''It is now time for the PM to make amends for his sins of using India's women to drive through his personal political agenda and to instead deliver justice to them,'' he said. The opposition and the Congress have alleged that the Modi government wanted to push delimitation in the garb of women's reservation issue. The opposition party has also demanded that the Centre immediately implement the women's quota on the existing Lok Sabha strength by bringing a bill in Parliament's Monsoon Session or earlier. The government's Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement women's quota and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated in the Lower House earlier this month. While 298 members voted in support of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of the 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority. The Bill proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 from the current 543 to ''operationalise'' the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census. Seats were also to be increased in assemblies of states and Union territories to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.

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