The debate in the Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendments in the women's quota law and setting up a delimitation commission turned quite fiery with Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Rahul Gandhi leading the opposition's push against the move, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all MPs to vote in favour of the bill.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that the bill has nothing to do with the empowerment of women and alleged that this is an attempt to change the country's electoral map, and called it "shameful."
He asked the government to bring back the 2023 women's bill and said that if this is done, the opposition will help the government pass it for implementation.
Gandhi alleged that the government is trying to rejig the Indian political map as the BJP is afraid that it is losing its strength. "What you (BJP) are doing, because you are scared of what is happening in the politics of the country, you are scared of the erosion of your strength, and you are trying to rejig the Indian political map. You did it in Assam, J&K, and now imagining you can do it in India. You need a constitutional amendment to do that."
Gandhi claimed that the government is trying to bypass the caste census.
"It is a historical fact that how Indian society treated Dalits and OBCs and their women...What is being attempted here is a bypass of the caste census. Here, they are trying to avoid giving power and representation to my OBC brothers and sisters and taking power from them."
"The government is telling the southern, northeastern, and smaller states that for the BJP to remain in power, 'we are going to take away representation from you'," Gandhi said.
What the government is doing is nothing short of an "anti-national act", Gandhi said.
"We won't allow you to do it; the entire opposition will defeat this attempt. I want to assure the southern, northeastern, and smaller states that we will not allow the government to touch your representation in the Union of India," he said.
Tharoor demanded that delimitation be deferred and called for ensuring that the "march toward a 'New India' does not give us a disunited India".
The Congress leader said linking women's reservation with delimitation is to hold the aspirations of Indian women hostage to "one of the most contentious and complex" administrative exercises in the country's history.
"The issues surrounding delimitation require extensive consultation with all stakeholders, including all state governments, all political parties, and civil society. It cannot be rushed," he said.
"I urge the government to decouple these issues and pass the Women's Reservation Bill today. We will support it. The PM spoke with passion about nari shakti. Let it take effect in the next general election, using our current seat count. Show the women of India that your commitment is not a mere rhetorical flourish," the senior Congress leader said.
Delimitation, he stressed, must be deferred and a formal mechanism such as a joint parliamentary committee be constituted to debate a new federal settlement that protects the interests of all states.
"Let us give women their due now, and give our nation our Union of states, the time it needs to solve its demographic challenges with wisdom, not just arithmetic," Tharoor asserted.
HDK accuses DMK of 'fear mongering'
Meanwhile, Union minister and JD(S) leader H.D Kumaraswamy described the DMK's arguments against bills to tweak the women-quota law as "fear mongering" and said they do not represent the views of the southern states.
The DMK, which is in power in Tamil Nadu, has been vehemently opposing the bills and have raised concerns that they would adversely impact the southern states.
During a discussion on the bills in the Lok Sabha, Kumaraswamy, who has been the chief minister of Karnataka twice, said the Congress is not prepared to handle the massive change and that the party has lost touch with people and does not know how to cope with this transformation.
Terming the DMK's arguments "fear mongering", the heavy industries minister said those represent the party's own views and not those of the southern states.
Modi's appeal to MPs
In the wake of the claims by the opposition in Lok Sabha, PM Modi took to social media to claim that the government has addressed all apprehensions and misconceptions relating to the legislation with facts and logic.
"For nearly four decades, this issue of women’s reservation in legislative bodies has been inordinately delayed. Now is the time to ensure that half of the nation’s population receives its rightful due in decision making. Even after so many decades of Independence, it is not right that women in India have such limited representation in this area.”
“In a short while from now, voting will take place in the Lok Sabha. I urge and appeal to all political parties to reflect carefully and take a sensitive decision by voting in favour of women’s reservation," Modi said.
He asked the MPS to "reflect upon your conscience, remembering the women in your own families."
Pointing out that the legislation to ensure women’s reservation in legislative bodies is a significant opportunity to do justice to women of our nation, Modi said if this amendment is passed unanimously, it will further empower the women of our country and strengthen our democracy.
"Let us come together today to create history. Let us ensure that the women of India, who are half of the nation’s population, receive their rightful due," the prime minister said.