Priyanka Gandhi challenges govt: Bring 2023 women's reservation law and we'll see who's anti-women

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi challenged the BJP-led NDA government on Saturday to hold an "immediate" Parliament session on Monday and bring the old women's reservation law which was passed in 2023 and notified just two days ago.

"They [Centre] should bring the old women's bill, the one which was passed by all parties, immediately on Monday. Hold Parliament on Monday, bring the bill and let's see who is anti-woman. We will all vote and support you," Priyanka Gandhi said.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi held a press conference, urging the government to act without delay.

"If you want to do something concrete, bring back the bill that was passed unanimously in 2023, supported by all parties. If you need to make a few small amendments to it so it can be implemented now, do it and implement it now. Give women their rights, right now," she said in the press conference on Saturday.

Priyanka Gandhi reiterated that the Opposition's stand was not against women's reservation but against linking it to delimitation and census processes.

"Don't try to mislead them by twisting it around and attaching it to other things. Do it now. We're all ready," she asserted a day after the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, that sought to tweak the 2023 women's reservation law failed the Lok Sabha test.

She said, "The [Special Parliament] session was called suddenly, with the draft [of the Constitution Amendment Bill] shared just a day before, leaving no time to review. It seemed like a plan to stay in power."

"Through delimitation based on the 2011 Census and using women's reservation, they aimed to redraw constituencies to their advantage. If it passed, they would proceed; if not, they would label others as anti-women and project themselves as champions. But becoming a true champion of women is not easy; it requires action. There is a history to it, and the Congress party has that history," she said in the press conference.

The Constitution Amendment bill sought to tweak the Women's Reservation Law, which Parliament already passed in 2023. The old bill contended that the 33 per cent women's reservation in Parliament and state assemblies would be implemented following the first census taken after 2026 and the delimitation process that would eventually alter the number of seats in the Lok Sabha.

Now, the new bill removed the provision that mandated delimitation after each census. The government suggested delimitation on the basis of the old Census (2011), followed by an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850. The bill then linked it to the women's reservation law.

"The implementation of reservation of seats for women is linked to the constitutional scheme of readjustment in the allocation of seats in the House of the People [Lok Sabha] and the Legislative Assemblies and re-drawing boundaries of territorial constituencies by the Delimitation Commission," the bill stated.

It stated, "...reservation shall become operative after the first delimitation is undertaken on the basis of the relevant census taken after the commencement of the said Amendment Act."

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said while presenting the bill that there will be a 50 per cent increase in the strength of Lok Sabha members, and this will "translate to 815 seats, of which 272 will be reserved for women, which comes to one-third of the strength of the House."

To justify the amendment, the bill stated, "The next census and the consequential delimitation exercise thereafter will take considerable time and thus, delay the effective and dedicated participation of women in our democratic polity."

They questioned why the government suddenly decided to implement reservations and change the Lok Sabha structure based on an old Census.

"The way they have brought this bill, the things they have attached to it, the delimitation, the 2011 census, it's very clear that they knew this bill was not going to be able to be passed. They just wanted the political credit," Priyanka Gandhi said.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra even asked the government to "Implement Women’s Reservation NOW based on 543 seats" and asked, "What is stopping you? Jumlabazi Nahi Chalegi."