New Delhi, 13 April (H.S.): Not

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi asserted that the prevailing political discourse in the nation centers not on women's reservation, but on delimitation. Delimitation executed without a transparent process, explicit criteria, and broad consensus could disrupt the equilibrium of representation among states, while imperiling the federal structure and constitutional framework, she cautioned, terming it a profoundly consequential matter.

In an op-ed in an English daily, Sonia averred that the government is spotlighting women's reservation to divert attention from the substantive concern. The women's reservation provision stands already enacted, yet its implementation has been tethered to the forthcoming census and subsequent delimitation, engendering unwarranted procrastination.

She elucidated that the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023—unanimously passed last year—stipulates one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, contingent upon the next census and delimitation. With requisite political resolve, it could have been operationalized earlier.

Sonia underscored the absence of any official blueprint for delimitation thus far. Beyond mere population-based seat redistribution, it demands meticulous calibration of political and regional equilibrium, lest states exemplary in population control suffer inequity.

Persistent census delays, she noted, cascade into myriad governmental schemes and entitlements, thwarting full efficacy under enactments like the National Food Security Act.

The government exhibits unseemly haste in convening a special session, whereas deliberation with all parties precedes such gravity. Consensus and dialogue remain democratic imperatives, she emphasized, urging an all-party conclave for clarity antecedent to constitutional amendments.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar