Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on 8 August fired back at Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over the implementation of women's reservation, citing the provisions of the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 — also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — and the structural hurdles tied to delimitation and the ongoing census exercise.

What Rijiju Said on X

Posting on X, Rijiju stated: “Rahul Ji, you know it very well that: The reservation of seats for women in the House of the People and Legislative Assembly of the State is provided in the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam).” He pointed out that the constitutional provision can only come into effect “after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken” and “based on the census figures published after the year 2023, which means the census figures published after the year 2026.”

The minister cautioned that the census process “may take substantial time (due to caste-based census) to be finally published,” adding: “In view of this, it may result in considerable delay in the implementation of women reservation, at least not before 2034 General Elections.”

The 2029 Window and the Legislative Route

Rijiju argued that implementing women’s reservation in time for the 2029 general elections would require the delimitation exercise to begin “at the earliest, based on the latest available Census figures, as published.” To that end, the government had introduced the Delimitation Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha alongside proposed constitutional amendments to fast-track the process using 2011 Census data.

However, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 — introduced in April 2026 specifically to enable early delimitation and bring 33 per cent reservation into effect before 2029 — was defeated in the Lok Sabha after falling short of the required two-thirds majority.

Rahul Gandhi’s Counter

Earlier in the day, Gandhi had reacted to Rijiju’s initial remarks by asserting that the women’s quota Bill had been unanimously passed by Parliament in 2023 with the “full support of Congress.” The Congress leader accused the government of “unnecessarily linking” the implementation of women’s reservation with the delimitation exercise, maintaining that the legislation already had broad cross-party backing and that the government was stalling its operationalisation.

The exchange was triggered after Rijiju had earlier suggested that Congress should have “no difficulty” in supporting the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament — a framing Gandhi pushed back against sharply.

Why the Delay Matters

The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, passed unanimously in September 2023, was widely hailed as a landmark step. Yet its activation is constitutionally contingent on two sequential events: completion of a fresh census and a subsequent delimitation of constituencies. With the current census incorporating caste enumeration for the first time in decades, the timeline has grown uncertain. Rijiju’s remarks suggest the government now formally acknowledges that 2034 is the more realistic implementation window unless an accelerated legislative path is found.

This is the latest in a running public exchange between the two leaders on X over the women’s quota timeline, and it underscores a deepening political fault line: the government contends the delay is constitutional and structural, while the Opposition argues it reflects a lack of political will. With the 2029 elections less than four years away, the question of whether women’s reservation can be operationalised in time is set to remain a central battleground.