2 min readNew DelhiApr 16, 2026 04:47 PM IST
As Parliament began discussing early implementation of women’s reservation and a delimitation Bill on Thursday, women MPs from both sides of the aisle in the Rajya Sabha, which is likely begin discussing the three Bills starting Friday, weighed in on the issue.
While the Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP Ranjeet Ranjan accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of introducing the Bills in Parliament because of “ulterior motives”, the BJP’s Rekha Sharma called it a “historic day”.
“The Bill was passed in 2023 and no one in the Opposition has any objection to it. We want that some of the existing 543 seats in Lok Sabha are reserved for women,” Ranjan said.
Ranjan went on to say it was the BJP which linked the Bill to the Census first, then to delimitation, and then reservation. “They kept the issue under wraps for 30 months and have suddenly remembered it. There is a hidden intent. The government does not want to implement women’s reservation. When you are ready to consider the 2011 Census, why did you not implement it in 2024? There is a Constitutional framework, the country is one, you can’t divide the north and the south. We will take this up in the House,” she said.
The BJP’s Sharma responded to the allegations of the timing saying if the reservation was not implemented now, it would have to wait till 2034.
“This is a historic day. Talk on women’s reservation have been going on since 1992. It came to the Parliament more than once, but was dropped. It was finally passed in 2023. Now, there are some amendments which will be passed to ensure 33% reservation for women in Parliament,” she said.
Saying that the Opposition’s concerns would be addressed when leaders address the House, she said, “They (Opposition) know it is very important. Delimitation is actually happening the way they want it. There is no question of seats being reduced in any part of the country. There is a clear formula which will ensure 50% seats will be increased across the board.”
