Oppn will support women’s quota bill if brought within existing framework of 543 seats, says Manish Tewari

Chandigarh: Congress MP Manish Tewari on Sunday said that the Opposition put up stiff resistance to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 and defeated it in the Lok Sabha because of pressing concerns that it was being used as a cover to alter the political and demographical map of the country, under the guise of women’s reservation.

Speaking to IANS, Tewari criticised the tone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the address to the nation on the Women’s Reservation Bill on Saturday.

“It is unfortunate. The Prime Minister of India should not use such words. It is not right to make the address to the nation a playground for politics. The fact and truth is that the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in 2023 itself. However, the government did not notify it until April 16, 2026. If they were truly sensitive about women’s reservations, why did it take them nearly 30 months to officially notify the law? That is the first question.”

Tewari asserted that the Bill brought before Parliament this time went beyond the scope of women’s reservation and was closely tied to the issue of delimitation.

“Under the pretext of women’s reservation, there was an attempt to change the political and geographical structure of the country. There was concern that India’s political and electoral map could be redrawn, which is why the Opposition MPs collectively opposed it,” he said.

The Congress MP further stated that the Opposition remains open to supporting women’s reservation if it is implemented within the existing framework of parliamentary seats.

“Even today, we are saying that there are 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, so implement the Act right now. Give the reservation to women, who are stopping you? This could also have happened in 2023. Earlier, the 2023 Act states that first a census will be conducted, then delimitation and then the women’s reservation. We did not say this; their Act states it,” Tewari continued.

“Now they want to implement women’s reservation on the basis of the 2011 census — 16-year-old figures. They wanted to do delimitation under the pretext of women’s reservation. No one would agree to that,” he added.

Reiterating his party’s position, Tewari said, “If they are serious about women’s reservation, we will support them even if they bring it today.”

The criticism came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi sharply criticised the Congress and its allies, accusing them of committing what he termed as “foeticide” of the proposed ‘Nari Shakti Vandan’ Amendment, which was aimed at enhancing women’s participation in Indian politics.

Addressing the nation on Saturday, the Prime Minister asserted that the proposed amendment was not intended to take away rights from any section but to grant long-pending representation to women, who make up nearly half of the country’s population.

Expressing strong disappointment over the Opposition’s stance, PM Modi accused parties such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and DMK of “brutally killing” the initiative both inside Parliament and in the public domain.

He further said that Congress has historically resisted women’s reservation and has repeatedly created obstacles whenever such measures were brought forward. According to him, this time too the Opposition relied on what he described as misleading arguments, diversionary tactics and statistical justifications to stall the Bill.

IANS