‘Women’s quota bill already passed in 2023’: Mahua Moitra slams fresh delimitation push

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has called on women’s organisations to withhold support for any delimitation exercise conducted without an updated census, warning that such a move could delay the rollout of the Women’s Reservation law.

In a post on X, Moitra argued that the Women’s Reservation Bill, which was passed in 2023, should be implemented immediately using the current composition of Parliament and state assemblies.

She maintained that linking its implementation to a future census and subsequent delimitation process would unnecessarily postpone the long-awaited increase in women’s political representation.

Moitra further alleged that proceeding with delimitation in the absence of fresh population data would not serve the intended purpose of equitable representation.

Instead, she claimed, it could tilt the political balance in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), raising concerns about fairness in the redrawing of constituencies.

Her remarks come at a time when there is an ongoing political debate over whether the implementation of the women’s quota should be tied to delimitation based on new census figures.

While the government has maintained that the process must follow constitutional provisions, opposition leaders have increasingly questioned the timeline and intent behind the sequencing.

The Women’s Reservation Bill seeks to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women.

However, its implementation remains contingent on the completion of delimitation exercises, which in turn are linked to updated census data, an issue that continues to spark political contention.