'How much more bogus can he get?' Congress slams PM Modi for using women's quota as election issue

New Delhi: Congress on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the proposal for early implementation of 33% women's quota as an "election issue", while exuding confidence that people in poll-bound states and union territory will give him a "resounding reply and decisively reject the BJP".

The response came as Modi said during an election rally in Assam that the women's quota will be implemented from 2029 Lok Sabha elections and sought support from all parties.

"How much more bogus can he get?" Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asked while emphasising that the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 was passed unanimously by Parliament in September 2023 with Congress demanding its implementation from the 2024 Lok Sabha election itself.

But the Modi government introduced a condition that the reservation will come into effect only after delimitation and census is completed and Article 334-A had got inserted then, Ramesh said.

"Now all of a sudden to divert public attention from the grave economic crisis and in order to influence voters in the five states the Prime Minister has decided that Article 334-A should be amended to do away with delimitation and census prerequisite. He has woken up after 30 months and done another U-turn," he said.

"Now he is using this as an election issue. The people in the five states will give him a resounding reply and decisively reject the BJP," Ramesh said.

The government now plans to amend the Constitution for early implementation of women's quota after a delimitation of constituencies based on the 2011 Census instead of Census 2027. The Budget Session is being reconvened on April 16 for the passage of these measures.