- Union Minister Rijiju advocated early delimitation for 2029 women’s quota.
- Rijiju states current law requires delimitation using post-2026 census data.
- Rahul Gandhi questioned delay, demanded immediate women’s reservation without delimitation.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said an early delimitation exercise was necessary to implement women’s reservation in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, triggering a fresh war of words with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over the issue.
Responding to Rahul’s criticism of the Centre’s move to link women’s reservation with delimitation, Rijiju explained the provisions of the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, and argued that the latest available Census figures would have to be used if the quota is to be implemented from the 2029 general elections.
Rahul, however, maintained that the Women’s Reservation Bill had already been passed unanimously in 2023 with the Congress’s full support and questioned why its implementation was now being linked to delimitation.
Rijiju Explains Why Delimitation Is Needed For 2029 Quota
In a post responding to Rahul Gandhi, Rijiju said the reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies is already provided for under the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
He said the law provides that the reservation will come into effect after a delimitation exercise based on Census figures published after 2023, which means figures published after 2026.
“The exercise for publishing the census figures after the year 2026 is currently underway; however, this may take substantial time (due to caste based census) to be finally published. In view of this, it may result in considerable delay in the implementation of women reservation, at least not before 2034 General Elections,” Rijiju said.
He argued that if women’s reservation is to be implemented in the 2029 general elections, delimitation would have to be carried out at the earliest using the latest available Census figures.
“Therefore, to implement the women reservation at the next general elections in 2029, the delimitation exercise needs to be undertaken at the earliest, based on the latest available Census figures, as published,” Rijiju said.
Rijiju Cites Defeat Of Constitution Amendment Bill
Rijiju said the implementation methodology had been proposed under the Delimitation Bill 2026, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha along with amendments to the Constitution.
He further pointed out that the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, introduced for this purpose, had been defeated.
His remarks came after Rahul Gandhi questioned the Centre’s decision to link the implementation of the women’s reservation law with delimitation.
Rahul Says Women’s Reservation Bill Already Passed
Rahul Gandhi, in a post to which Rijiju responded, said the Women’s Reservation Bill had already been passed unanimously with the Congress’s support.
“Mr. Rijiju, who would know better than you, as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs—that the Women’s Reservation Bill 2023 has already been passed unanimously, with the full support of the Congress.”
Rahul questioned why the legislation had not been implemented even after three years and objected to linking it to delimitation.
“The question is, why has it still not been implemented even after three years, and why do you now want to unnecessarily link it to delimitation?”
He called on the government to implement the 2023 law without conditions.
“Implement the 2023 law. Without any conditions.”
Women’s Quota, Delimitation At Centre Of Deadlock
The women’s reservation law, or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was passed by both Houses of Parliament in 2023. It provides for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
Its implementation, however, is tied to a future delimitation exercise based on Census figures. The Centre’s current push to advance the implementation of the quota before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections has therefore brought the issue of delimitation to the centre of the political dispute.
The proposed delimitation exercise would increase the total number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850, with 33%, or 273 seats, reserved for women.
The Opposition has objected to population-based delimitation using the 2011 Census, arguing that it could favour northern states, where population growth has been higher, over southern states.
Centre-Opposition Standoff Continues
The issue has emerged amid a stalemate in Parliament, with the Monsoon session virtually stalled since July 20.
As the Constitution amendment bill requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament, the government needs Opposition support to pass the legislation.
Rijiju had held a 50-minute discussion with Rahul Gandhi on August 5 to seek support for the delimitation-linked Constitution Amendment Bill and the amended FCRA bill. Rijiju is also learnt to have contacted Rahul by phone on August 6.
Rahul is learnt to have conveyed that linking women’s reservation to delimitation was not acceptable to the Opposition. He also indicated that the Congress would discuss the matter internally and with its INDIA bloc allies before communicating its position.
With just a week remaining in the Monsoon session, the standoff over women’s reservation and delimitation continues.
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