New Delhi [India], April 16 : Congress leader KC Venugopal on Thursday called upon the government to withdraw the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 in its current form and convene an all-party meeting to evolve a consensus.
Speaking in Lok Sabha on the bill, which seeks to implement women's reservation from the 2029 general elections, he said the government intends to push delimitation in the garb of the Women's Reservation Amendment Bill.
Referring to the opposition's objections to the Delimitation Bill and the manner in which seats are sought to be increased in Lok Sabha, he accused the government of using women's reservation as a weapon to destroy democracy in the country
"You are trying to diminish the status of the states for political ends. Withdraw the bill. Call an all-party meeting," he said.
The Congress leader said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech on the bill, did not mention the word "delimitation" even though it was the main issue today, as the Women's Reservation Bill had already been passed in 2023.
"In his complete speech, we were searching for a word, Delimitation, which is very much relevant for this bill. He has never uttered a single word about Delimitation provision on this bill. All the opposition members have a serious concern about the provision which the government is taking away the constitutional cover of the Delimitation issue. PM never uttered the word. He is only speaking about the women's reservation," he said.
"PM talks about Panchayat, who gave Panchayats the women reservation? Did the BJP give it? Congress gave it. We have to salute Rajiv Gandhi for those decisions. 73rd and 74th Amendment, one of the most historical amendments...," he added.
Responding to his remarks, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Congress leader should not mislead the House.
"You shouldn't mislead. The PM did not claim that we did that. He has given credit to you that you have no problem giving women's reservation to Panchayats, why are you creating problems for assemblies and Parliament?" Rijiju asked.
In his remarks, Venugopal said Congress gave the country its first woman Prime Minister, first woman President and first woman Lok Sabha Speaker.
"You came to power in 2014, what was your role in nine years? Who delayed it (women's reservation bill) ? After nine years, they brought 2023 bill, after another three years for implementation. Now they are saying, it is delayed. You are using women's reservation as a weapon to destroy the democracy of this country," Venugopal alleged.
Questioning the delay in the implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, the Congress MP said that the opposition had demanded the Bill should be implemented from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"You only made the provision that there shall be a census, followed by a delimitation, then the reservation will happen. We never said that. We told, at that point of time only, that we need Women's Reservation by 2024 elections. Honourable PM, if you have any sincerity for Women's Reservation Bill, you would have done it in 2024 itself," he said.
Venugopal said the opposition is giving a blank cheque to the government to do women's reservation, as per the existing strength of the Parliament. "Who's opposing it? It is very clear, that the PM, govt's side is completely trying to delay it," he said.
Lok Sabha on Thursday took up simultaneous discussion on three bills for early implementation of Women's Reservation Act. The government had extended the budget session and called a three-day special sitting of Parliament for the purpose.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and The Delimitation Bill, 2026 were introduced and taken up for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day.
PM Modi urged the House to pass the bills with consensus.
"This should not be weighed from a political angle. Those who are carrying half the responsibility of the nation also have the right to be here; we should not stop them," he said.
He said ever since the discussion on women's reservation took place in the country, and every time elections have come around thereafter, whoever has opposed this right being given, "women have not forgiven them".
"In the 2024 elections, this did not happen, and it did not happen because everyone passed it unanimously then, so the issue itself did not remain," he said.
"Those who opposed giving this right to women have not been forgiven by the women of this country. They have faced the consequences. If we all move forward together, this decision will not go in favour of any one political party, but in favour of the country's democracy," he added.
PM Modi said if there is unanimous support for the bills, it won't go in favour of any party.
"It will go in favor of the country's democracy, in favor of the country's collective decision-making power, and we all will be deserving of that glory. Neither the Treasury Bench will be deserving of it, nor will Modi be deserving of it. Therefore, anyone who smells politics in this should take a look at their own outcomes from the past 30 years. Their benefit lies in this. They will be saved from whatever damage is happening. Therefore, there is no need to give it a political colour," he said.
He said anyone who wants to move forward in political life will have to accept that over the past 25 years, lakhs of women have emerged as grassroots leaders.
"The leadership that has developed at the grassroots level among women must be recognised and taken into account. Therefore, those who oppose this today will have to pay the price for a long time," he said.
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