Rahul Gandhi vs Kiren Rijiju in fiery verbal duel over women’s quota bill

NEW DELHI, AUG 8 : Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju were locked in a fiery war of words on Saturday over the women’s reservation bill, amid a stalemate over the Centre’s move to link it to the proposed delimitation exercise. The exchange began after Rijiju commented on a video of Rahul speaking about women’s freedom of expression and challenged him to support the women’s quota bill. Rahul hit back, questioning why the legislation was being unnecessarily linked to delimitation.

With the Monsoon session of Parliament virtually stalled since July 20, Rijiju has reached out to Rahul a couple of times over the past week regarding the passage of the constitution amendment bill linked to delimitation and women’s reservation. Being a constitution amendment bill, it would require a two-thirds majority in Parliament – numbers the NDA doesn’t have on its own. Hence, the outreach.

Rahul Gandhi

KIREN RIJIJU, RAHUL GANDHI TRADE BARBS

Rijiju again appealed to Rahul on Saturday. He found perfect timing. Sharing a video of Rahul calling for greater freedom of expression for women, the minister said there appeared to be a “visible change of heart” in the Leader of the Opposition (LoP).

“This seems to be a positive message from the Congress. There’s a visible change of heart in Rahul Gandhi about women,” Rijiju, the parliamentary affairs minister, said. He also called on the Congress to support the women’s reservation bill “unconditionally”.

Within two hours, came Rahul’s response. The Congress MP reminded Rijiju that the women’s reservation bill had already been passed in 2023 with the Congress’s support.

“The bill has already been passed unanimously, with the full support of the Congress,” Rahul tweeted.

“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 further said. Rahul demanded that the Centre implement the 2023 law “without any conditions”.

Rahul Gandhi

WOMEN’S QUOTA AND DELIMITATION

The women’s reservation bill, or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was passed by both Houses of Parliament in 2023. It seeks to reserve 33% of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

However, the 2023 Act tied its rollout to a future census (a fresh exercise has begun this year). It would have pushed its implementation past 2034.

The new bill seeks to use the 2011 Census to enable execution of women’s reservation before the 2029 Lok Sabha polls. However, the government’s move to link the bill to a delimitation exercise to redraw parliamentary constituencies has led to a deadlock.

The proposed exercise will see the total number of Lok Sabha seats rise from 543 to 850. Out of them, 33% or 273 seats will be reserved for women.

The opposition has argued that a population-based delimitation based on the 2011 Census would unfairly benefit the North, where population growth has been higher, over southern states.

An attempt to pass the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill at a special session in April bit the dust. The government has now renewed its push to pass the legislation in the Monsoon session.

GOVT’S OUTREACH TO CONGRESS

On August 5, Rijiju held a 50-minute-long discussion with Rahul to secure support for the delimitation-linked Constitution Amendment Bill as well as the amended FCRA bill.

It was seen as the Modi government taking a more accommodative stance following the Gen Z protests, which forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign.

However, sources said Rahul conveyed to the Union Minister that linking women’s reservation to delimitation was “not acceptable” to the Opposition.

Rijiju is learnt to have reached out to Rahul over phone on August 6 as well. This time, Rahul is learnt to have told him that the Congress would discuss the issue internally and with is INDIA bloc allies and then communicate its stance.

Separately, sources said, Rahul has demanded a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the July 20 crackdown against student protesters and a discussion on the Ram Temple donation theft case.

With just a week left for the Monsoon session, it remains to be seen if the Congress budges from its tough stance.

-PTI