Congress issues three-line whip for Lok Sabha MPs to support party's stand on women's reservation

New Delhi [India], April 13 : The Congress on Monday issued a three-line whip for its MPs in the Lok Sabha to be present in the House for the special sitting from April 16 to 18 and support the party's stand on the Amendment Bill to implement the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023.

"Very important issues will be taken up for discussion and voting in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Friday & Saturday, i.e. April 16, 17 and 18, 2026. All Members of Congress Party in the Lok Sabha are requested to kindly remain present in the House from 11:00 A.M. onwards till the adjournment of the House on Thursday, Friday & Saturday, i.e. April 16, 17 and 18, 2026, without fail and support the Party's stand. This may be treated as MOST IMPORTANT," the party notice read.

The Parliament is set to meet for a three-day special session from April 16, to move the Amendment Bill to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 and a Delimitation Bill to implement the one-third reservation for women legislators.

Through the delimitation process, the Lok Sabha seats may increase from 543 to 816 post-amendment.

Both bills need to be passed as Constitutional amendments for women's reservation. Keeping up with the status quo, there is no provision for OBC reservation, and SC/ST reservation will continue.

Congress has opposed the Delimitation Bill based on the 2011 census, alleging that the southern states will suffer a shrink in their representation in the Lok Sabha.

Earlier today, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi referred to the delimitation exercise to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha as an "assault on the Constitution" and questioned the Centre on the timing of introducing the amendment to Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.

Penning an opinion piece in The Hindu, Sonia Gandhi alleged that the Opposition's call for an all-party meeting was turned down by the Centre, and called it Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "one-upmanship."

She clarified that the Opposition does not stand against the idea of reserving 33 per cent seats for women MPs in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures; it is against the delimitation process before the 2027 census.

Excerpt of her article shared by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge read, "Opposition leaders have written to the government not once but thrice requesting that an all-party meeting be convened after the last phase of elections is over in West Bengal on April 29, to discuss what the new proposals of the government are. But that perfectly reasonable request has been turned down. Instead, the Prime Minister has resorted to writing op-eds, making appeals to political parties, and organising sammelans. It is an underhand tactic that reflects the Prime Minister's one-upmanship and his 'my way or the highway' approach to decision-making."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed 2029 as the deadline for implementing the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, calling for collective efforts across party lines to pass the proposed amendment to the statute.

Amid opposition to the delimitation process, PM Modi noted that Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was unanimously passed in Parliament in 2023, and it was opposition parties which demanded the implementation before 2029.

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