Rahul Gandhi on quota Bills, the key talking points: ‘Govt redrawing electoral map while hiding behind women’

Participating in the debate on the three Bills on advancing women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies to 2029, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the government was trying to “rejig” the electoral map of India, “as it did in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam”, adding that it was telling southern states that to stay in power, the BJP would “take away” their representation. Gandhi said he would assure people across the country that the Opposition would not allow the government to touch their representation in the Union of India. He recalled that both Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee understood the dangers and did not allow this — meaning delimitation — to happen. Claiming that “this isn’t a women’s Bill”, Gandhi said a women’s Bill that was passed in 2023. The BJP said it would be implemented in 10 years, he said. Gandhi asserted that this was a Bill to change the electoral map of India while “hiding behind women”. “Bring that Bill right now and the Opposition will pass it right away,” the LoP said. Gandhi said there was “brutal” treatment of OBCs, Dalits and minorities in society, saying everyone knows this truth. “They are trying to avoid giving representation to my OBC brothers and sisters and take away power from them. Manuvad over Samvidhan. Amit Shah ji said that the caste census has begun, and said houses don’t have castes. The question is whether the caste census will be used for representation in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas,” he said, alleging that the government did not want to do this. “You call them Hindus and you do not give them any space in this country,” Gandhi said, referring to OBCs and Dalits. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju intervened, asking why the Congress did not provide OBC reservation in the legislature when it was in power. He said former PM Rajiv Gandhi had opposed OBC reservation. The Treasury benches objected when Gandhi used a term for PM Narendra Modi that they deemed unparliamentary. The LoP accused Modi of using sleight of hand over the years and alleged that some “invisible pressure” had made the government panic. He alleged that the government knew that the Bills could not be passed, but still brought them as a “panic reaction” to send across the twin messages that it was trying to alter India’s electoral map and that the PM is pro-women. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the use of “unparliamentary words” for the PM was deplorable and urged Speaker Om Birla to expunge them from the proceedings, a request that Rijiju also made. The Speaker replied that he was expunging the words from the proceedings and cautioned Gandhi to maintain Parliamentary decorum. Both ministers asserted that mocking the PM was tantamount to mocking the country, as the PM belongs to the entire country. “The BJP thinks they are the people of India and the Armed Forces of India,” Gandhi fired back. “They are a political party. We are not attacking the people and the Armed Forces; we are attacking you. Don’t hide behind the people of India and the Armed Forces.” “What you are attempting is snatching the constitutional rights of the people of India. We will not allow it and defeat the Bill here,” Gandhi added. He concluded his speech on a cryptic note. Asserting that he knew more than he was saying, Gandhi said the PM was low on energy when he addressed the House on Thursday, April 16. “He was not able to engage because trying to pass this Bill was a mistake. It was a panic reaction. The number 16 surprised me. If anyone has understood, please message me,” he said. The speech that saw multiple protests from Treasury benches, however, had begun with some light moments. Gandhi said everyone in the House had been influenced by women in their lives — mothers, sisters and wives — adding that the PM and he had no “wife issues”, leading to laughter in the House. He commended his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who spoke on Thursday, saying she could do what he had never been able to: make Union Home Minister Amit Shah smile. Vikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He ... Read More