Congress leader KC Venugopal terms delimitation bill as “anti-national act”
New Delhi [India], April 16 (ANI): Congress leader KC Venugopal termed the delimitation bill as "anti-national act".
"The delimitation amendment is an anti-national act that denies access to political power to women from Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities, and threatens to break India's federal structure. Southern, North Eastern and smaller states will see a massive shrinking of their political representation through this, and it will lead to catastrophic consequences for our Constitutional democracy," he said on X, in response to a video posted by Rahul Gandhi.
The delimitation amendment is an anti-national act that denies access to political power to women from Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities, and threatens to break India’s federal structure.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) April 15, 2026
Southern, North Eastern and smaller states will see a massive shrinking of their… https://t.co/VblymPn8rT
"We demand that the latest caste census be used for delimitation and that no state is disadvantaged by this process. We reject this Bill in its current form," he added.
The Delimitation Bill provides for the readjustment of the allocation of seats in the House of the People to the States and Union territories, the total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of each State and Union territories having a Legislative Assembly, the division of each State and each Union territory having a Legislative Assembly into territorial constituencies for elections to the House of the People and Legislative Assemblies of the States and Union territories.
His remarks come after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, slammed the delimitation bill, saying Congress will not allow the government to steal the share of representation of Other Backward Class (OBCs), Dalit and Adivasi communities, calling it an "anti-national" move by the NDA.
In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said his Congress unequivocally supports Women's Reservation, but the government must do delimitation only based on the 2026 Census, which is currently underway, adding that the Caste census must also be taken into consideration before bringing any such legislation.
"What the government is proposing now has nothing to do with women's reservation. This amendment is an attempted power grab using delimitation and gerrymandering. We will not allow 'Hissa Chori' from OBC, Dalit and Adivasi communities by ignoring the caste census data. We will also not allow Southern, North Eastern, North Western and smaller states to be treated unfairly," he said.
Rahul Gandhi said that if the government is serious about women's reservation in the legislature, then it must implement the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, which was already passed in 2023 in the Parliament.
"This is an anti-national activity, PM Modi is lying and trying to steal a share of backward communities. PM Modi wants delimitation as per his whims, which we won't allow, he said.
Three significant bills, including on implementing women's reservation from 2029 Lok Sabha polls and on delimitation of constituencies, are slated to be introduced and taken up in the special sitting of the budget session of Parliament beginning today with the opposition questioning the basis of plans to redraw constituencies and increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to a maximum of 850 from the existing 543.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026 are slated to be introduced by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 by Home Minister Amit Shah.
The government has convened a special sitting of Parliament on April 16,17,18 to pass the amendment to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
The Law Minister is also slated to move a proposal in the Lok Sabha to suspend the provisions of Rule 66 with the objective to pass the women's reservation amendment bill and the Delimitation Bill together.
The motion states that the this House "do suspend the proviso to rule 66 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha in its application to the motions for taking into consideration and passing of the Delimitation Bill, 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 in as much as these are dependent upon the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, 2026".The government has been seeking opposition support for passing the amendment bill to implement the women's reservation bill from 2029 Lok Sabha polls on the basis of 2011 census. (ANI)
