Congress alleges ‘U-Turn’ by PM on women’s reservation, calls move ‘Diversion Tactic’

‎ Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of making a “sudden U-turn” on the implementation of the Nari Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, alleging that the move is aimed at diverting attention from pressing national issues.

‎In a post on X, Ramesh recalled that the new Parliament House, inaugurated in September 2023, had marked the passage of the landmark legislation that amended the Constitution to provide one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. The law also included provisions for one-third reservation within seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

‎He pointed out that the implementation of these reservations was explicitly linked to the completion of delimitation and census exercises.

“Both these reservations were to become operational only after the delimitation and census exercises were completed,” Ramesh said.

‎The Congress leader noted that during the parliamentary debate on the Bill, the Indian National Congress had pushed for immediate implementation from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“The Modi government had then argued that this was not possible without completing delimitation and the census first,” he said.

‎Accusing the Prime Minister of reversing that position, Ramesh remarked, “Now the ‘U-turn Ustad’ has, after 30 months, suddenly changed his mind and wants to implement the reservations without completing the delimitation and census operations.”

‎He further alleged that the timing of the move was politically motivated. “The PM is unmatched in unleashing WMDs—Weapons of Mass Diversion. Desperate to change the narrative from his foreign policy failures and from the LPG and energy crisis facing the country, he has come up with this new initiative,” Ramesh said.

‎According to him, the government is planning to convene a special two-day session of Parliament in the coming fortnight to amend the Act and operationalise the reservation provisions.

“Wanting to take full political advantage of it, he has let it be known that such a session will be called,” he added.

‎Ramesh also said that opposition parties have collectively written to the government demanding that an all-party meeting be held after April 29, when the current round of assembly elections concludes. “Such crucial amendments require detailed discussion and consensus,” he stressed.

‎He further flagged reports that the government is considering increasing the size of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies by 50 per cent, calling for “careful deliberation” on the proposal.

‎Raising concerns over the timing of the proposed parliamentary session, Ramesh criticised what he described as the erosion of the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct.

“The Model Code of Conduct has been reduced to being the Modi Code of Campaigning. Calling a special session in April would violate one MCC while aligning with another,” he said.

‎The Congress leader also questioned the government’s commitment to conducting a caste census, which it had announced in April 2025.

He noted that the demand had earlier been dismissed by the ruling establishment, which had accused Congress leaders of promoting an “urban naxal mindset” during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign.