New Delhi, April 12 (IANS) Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday backed party chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s concerns regarding the Special Session of the Parliament on Women’s Reservation (Amendment) Bill on April 16, calling it a “clear breach of the Model of Conduct” as the Assembly election campaign will still be underway.

Congress has sought an all-party meeting regarding the delimitation before conducting a special session. The party has demanded that all this be done after April 29, when the active campaigning for Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal is over.

In a post on X, Ramesh shared Kharge’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and wrote, “The Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge ji writes to the PM on the special session of Parliament being convened next week in the middle of the election campaign in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal — which is a clear breach of the Model Code of Conduct. He has reiterated the opposition’s request to have an All-Party meeting convened anytime after April 29, 2026.”

A Special Session has been convened next week to deliberate on and pass the Women’s Reservation (Amendment) Bill.

PM Modi has written to floor leaders of all parties in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, seeking their support for the unanimous passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam to ensure the implementation of women’s reservation ahead of the 2029 elections.

Kharge, in his reply to the Prime Minister’s letter, has criticised the Centre for “hurrying” the implementation of the Women’s Reservation (Amendment) Bill to “gain political mileage” rather than women’s empowerment.

In his reply to the Prime Minister’s letter to all parties in both Houses of the Parliament, Kharge said, “I have just received your letter on the special session of Parliament for a discussion on the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam from April 16. As you are aware, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 was passed by Parliament unanimously in September 2023.”

“At that time, on behalf of the Indian National Congress, I had demanded that this important law should become effective immediately. Though in your letter you have mentioned that there was a broad consensus for its immediate implementation, you did not implement the same,” he said.

The Congress chief urged the PM for an all-party meeting regarding delimitation, which he said was associated with the changes to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023. He also alleged that the special session of Parliament was convened without consulting the opposition.

“You will appreciate that without details of the delimitation and other aspects, it would be impossible to have any useful discussion on this historic law,” he said.

“You mention in your letter that your government has engaged in dialogue with political parties regarding this. However, I am pained to point out that this goes against the truth since all the Opposition parties have been urging the government to call an All-Party meeting after the current round of elections is over on April 29, 2026, to discuss the Constitution amendments being contemplated,” Kharge added.

He further accused the government of rushing the implementation of the Bill for political gains.

“The calling of a special sitting during the ongoing state elections only reinforces our belief that your government is hurrying the implementation of the Bill to gain political mileage rather than truly empower women,” he said.

Recalling the passage of past bills, Kharge said, “I am also pained to write that the past record of the government in matters of public importance, whether it is demonetisation, GST, census or even those pertaining to the federal structure like implementing Finance Commission recommendations and tax devolutions, does not inspire any confidence.”

“The constitutional amendments being planned will affect both the Centre and the states, and it is important that all parties and states, however small they may be, are heard in a democracy,” he said.

If the special sitting is meant to “strengthen our democracy” and “moving forward together”, “taking everyone along” as the Prime Minister writes in the letter, the Congress chief said that then he suggests that the Centre convene an All-Party meeting any time after April 29, when the ongoing Assembly elections are over, to discuss the delimitation issue which is being linked to the amendment to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will require support from opposition parties to secure the two-thirds majority needed for the passage of the constitutional amendment in Parliament.

The proposed legislation seeks to delink the implementation of women’s reservation from the 2027 Census and instead base it on the 2011 Census, in a move aimed at ensuring that the quota comes into effect before the 2029 general elections.

–IANS

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