Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday (April 16, 2026) said the government, in the guise of implementing women’s reservation wanted to slice and dice constituencies to ensure its victory in the next elections and that this was an “open attack” on democracy.
Also read: Parliament special sitting session highlights on April 16, 2026
Participating in the debate on the three Bills seeking changes to the women’s quota law, and the setting up of a Delimitation Commission, Ms. Gandhi alleged the first steps towards weakening democracy had been taken when the government made the media and the Election Commission of India captive, and was now taking that assault a step further. “If this Constitution Amendment Bill is passed, democracy will be finished in India,” she said.
Questioning the government’s intent, the Congress MP asked why 33% reservation for women could not be implemented immediately on the existing strength of 543 Lok Sabha seats. Instead, she noted, the Bill proposed increasing the strength of the House to up to 850 members after delimitation, to be carried out on the basis of the 2011 Census. She also alleged that the government was not waiting for Census 2027 because it did not want to account for the caste count that would for the first time provide data on the strength of all caste groups.
