New Delhi:The manner in which the government is implementing a quota for women - 33 per cent reservation in parliament and state assemblies - is really a bid to change India's electoral map, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi warned parliament Friday afternoon.

It is a "panic reaction", he also declared, "so that Prime Minister Narendra Modi can show he is pro-women", particularly before voting for Bengal and Tamil Nadu Assembly elections next week, in which women voters will likely play a key role.

Speaking on Day 2 of a special session to pass bills on delimitation and to increase Lok Sabha seats, he said the government had linked these to the Women's Reservation Bill to try and disadvantage states that have better controlled population growth.

The government, however, has said delimitation and expansion of the Lok Sabha are needed to operationalise the women's quota before the 2029 Lok Sabha election, and called any party trying to block its move 'against women's empowerment'.

"But this is not a 'women's bill'… it has nothing to do with women's empowerment," Gandhi countered, "Women's Reservation Bill was passed in 2023 with everyone's support. What is happening now is an attempt to change India's electoral map."

Source:Ndtv