Mallikarjun Kharge seeks details on women's quota bill, urges PM Modi for all-party meet

Kharge reiterated the demand for an all-party meeting after April 29 to discuss delimitation issue, which is linked to the amendment to the 33 per cent quota law.

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he is seeking their cooperation for early implementation of 33 per cent women's quota “without revealing any details” on delimitation and it will be “impossible to have any useful discussion” in such a scenario.

Insisting that the proposed Constitutional amendments being planned will affect both the Centre and the states, he reiterated the demand for an all-party meeting after April 29 to discuss delimitation issue, which is linked to the amendment to the 33 per cent quota law, as it is important that all parties and states, however small they may be, are heard in a democracy.

Kharge's remarks came in a reply he wrote to the Prime Minister on Friday in response to Modi's letter seeking Congress' support for the legislative agenda in Parliament when it reconvenes on April 16 to pass the Bills seeking to implement women's quota after a delimitation of Parliament and Assembly constituencies.

The Prime Minister's letter came a day after the Congress Working Committee decided to consult other Opposition parties on April 15 to formulate a common Parliamentary strategy, amid concerns raised over the reported proposal to make Census 2011 as the base for rolling out 33 per cent quota after increasing seats in Lok Sabha by 50 per cent through a delimitation.

“If the special sitting is meant to ‘strengthen our democracy’ and ‘moving forward together, taking everyone along’ as you write in the letter, then I would suggest that the government convene an all-party meeting any time after April 29th to discuss the delimitation issue,” he said.

Kharge recalled that the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 was passed by Parliament unanimously in September 2023 and the Congress had demanded that it should become effective immediately. Though in his letter Modi mentioned that there was broad consensus for its immediate implementation, he said the Prime Minister did not implement it.

“It has been 30 months since then, and now this special sitting has been called without taking us into confidence and your government is seeking our cooperation again without revealing any details on the delimitation going to be done. You will appreciate that without details of the delimitation and other aspects, it would be impossible to have any useful discussion on this historic law,” he said.

Referring to his claim that the government has engaged in dialogue with parties on this issue, Kharge said he was pained to point out that it “goes against the truth” since the entire Opposition has been demanding an all-party meeting be convened after April 29 when the current round of elections is over to discuss the Constitution amendments being contemplated.

“The calling of a special sitting during the ongoing state elections only reinforces our belief that your government is hurrying the implementation of the bill to gain political mileage rather than truly empower women,” he said.

He said he is “pained to write” that the past record of the government in matters of public importance whether it is demonetisation, GST, census or those pertaining to the federal structure like implementing Finance Commission recommendations and tax devolutions “does not inspire any confidence”.