NAZIRA — Leader of Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, on Wednesday accused the BJP-led government of disguising a political strategy as women's empowerment, arguing that the conditions attached to women's reservation — particularly linking it to census completion and delimitation — were designed to delay rather than deliver.
Saikia reiterated the Congress position that 33 per cent reservation for women should be implemented immediately and without preconditions within the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats. "If the government truly has the intent, why not enforce it right away?" he asked.
Saikia raised a concern that extends beyond the reservation debate — arguing that basing future seat delimitation solely on updated population data would significantly reduce parliamentary representation for states in the Northeast and South that have successfully controlled population growth.
He warned that such an approach would politically weaken states that have performed well on demographic indicators, diminishing their influence in national policymaking — a point he said was being obscured by the BJP's framing of the issue.
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Pushing back against the BJP's criticism of Congress on women's issues, Saikia pointed to a series of historical steps taken under Congress-led governments.
He noted that the Margaret Alva Committee was formed in 1987 under Rajiv Gandhi to address women's rights and reservation, that the Congress government introduced 33 per cent reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions in 1992, and that the Women's Reservation Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 during the UPA regime — though it did not clear the Lok Sabha at the time.
Saikia also turned his attention to the Women's Reservation Act passed in 2023, questioning why it has still not been brought into effect.
He suggested that its introduction ahead of elections pointed to political motivation rather than genuine intent — and criticised BJP leaders including Yogi Adityanath for opposing the bill when it was first moved. He also raised the issue of the limited number of women candidates fielded by the BJP in recent assembly elections, calling it inconsistent with the party's stated commitment to women's empowerment.