Oppn united on delimitation amendment, will oppose it in Parliament: Kharge​

New Delhi: All Opposition parties are united against the ‘contentious’ Delimitation amendment bill and will take a position in Parliament to vote against it, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Wednesday.​

Kharge, speaking to newsmen after the conclusion of the party’s top brass meet at his residence, underlined the party’s unequivocal and unwavering support for women’s reservation in legislative bodies, citing its endorsement of constitutional amendments earlier on two occasions, in 2010 and 2023.​

Kharge, along with the top party leadership, however, sensed a political motive behind the government’s push for the Delimitation amendment bill, allegedly under the garb of women’s reservation, and vowed to oppose it in Parliament.​

He claimed that the government is playing certain tricks on delimitation and therefore, “all the opposition parties will take a united stand and fight it in Parliament.”​

“We support the Women’s Reservation Bill, but the way the Modi government has brought it is politically motivated. It is acting in this manner to target and suppress opposition parties.​

“Let me make it clear, we are not against Women’s Reservation,” he added.​

He said that the government has unfairly attempted to link it to the Census 2026 and a future delimitation process, thereby raising doubts and suspicions about the timing of three key amendment bills in Parliament, just ahead of Assembly elections.​

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi also extended unequivocal support to the women’s reservation bill, but expressed strong reservations over the delimitation amendment.​

“This amendment is an attempted power grab using delimitation and gerrymandering,” he said in a video statement.​

Jairam Ramesh, Congress communications in-charge, dubbed the delimitation bill as “extremely dangerous”, stating that it will alarmingly increase the North-South divide in representation in the Parliament.​

“All opposition parties are completely against the provisions of delimitation. We will participate in the debate in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and oppose it,” he told the press, after the meeting of Opposition parties.​

The top leadership of most Opposition parties met at Kharge’s residence this evening to discuss strategy on the women’s reservation law and the delimitation amendment, ahead of a special three-day sitting of the Parliament.​

The proposed amendments to the Women’s Reservation Bill and the Delimitation Amendment Bill, set to be introduced during three days of a Special sitting of Parliament, have led to a fresh flashpoint between the BJP and Opposition parties. ​

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been making impassioned appeals for unanimous support for women’s reservations, while Congress and other parties have been pointing to the “wrongful linking” of the two amendments, labeling it an “underhanded tactic” to score political points.

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IANS