Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday accused the Centre of attempting to alter the country’s federal structure under the pretext of women’s reservation. She said the defeat of the bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the women’s quota law marked a victory for the Constitution and the unity of the opposition.

She also urged the government to implement the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023 based on the current strength of the Lok Sabha. Addressing a press conference, Priyanka said the developments in Parliament reflected a major win for democracy, as what she described as a plan to undermine the federal framework had been stopped. She added that it also highlighted the strength of a united opposition.

Referring to remarks made by Home Minister Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha, she said his statement about the Congress being unable to return to power for years revealed the government’s mindset. According to her, the underlying intention behind the move was to retain power, suggesting that delaying delimitation until after 2029 was part of this strategy.

Priyanka further alleged that women’s reservation was being used as a justification to carry out delimitation on the government’s terms. She claimed that the ruling side was prepared to benefit either way—by passing the bill or by portraying the opposition as anti-women if it failed. She argued that earning the trust of women requires more than political positioning, citing incidents involving women, including the Hathras case and the treatment of Olympic medallists.

She maintained that the opposition had no option but to oppose the proposal and said the outcome demonstrated that a united opposition could challenge the government effectively. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which sought to introduce 33 percent reservation for women in legislatures from 2029 and increase Lok Sabha seats to 816, was defeated in the Lower House. While 298 members supported it and 230 opposed it, the bill fell short of the required two-thirds majority of 352 votes out of 528 members present and voting.

The proposal included expanding Lok Sabha and state assembly seats following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census to implement the reservation. The special three-day parliamentary session from April 16 to 18 had been convened to secure approval for the bill. Following its defeat, the Congress described the move to link delimitation with women’s reservation as a misguided attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, and called its rejection a victory for democratic values and the Constitution.