Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, accusing them of “unnecessarily linking” the Women’s Reservation Bill to delimitation and demanding implementation of the already passed 2023 women’s reservation law without conditions.There has been speculation that the government will re-introduce the delimitation bill in the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament. (ANI)“Mr Rijiju, who would know better than you, as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs — that the Women’s Reservation Bill 2023 has already been passed unanimously, with the full support of the Congress. The question is, why has it still not been implemented even after three years, and why do you now want to unnecessarily link it to delimitation? Implement the 2023 law. Without any conditions,” said Gandhi on X.These remarks came after Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju reacted to a video of the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha reflecting on women empowerment. “This seems to be a positive message from the Congress Party. There’s a visible change of heart in Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji about women. Now, I hope the Congress Party will support the Women’s Reservation Bill unconditionally,” he said.“A certain amount of freedom from this patriarchy, a certain amount of freedom from the rigid control India’s men impose on their women is required if India has to really develop. This is the political philosophy I subscribe to…one thing we absolutely have to do is reinvigorate it and bring women back into the conversation where they should be and allow them to express themselves the way they want to,” Gandhi said in video posted on X. Also Read:IAF officer held for leaking defence data to Pak operative; was ‘honey-trapped’ by woman on social mediaThe exchange revives a long-running dispute over the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill, 2023, which reserves one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.The BJP introduced the 131st Amendment in the Lok Sabha in April as a proposed amendment to the 2023 women’s reservation law. The bill— seeking to raise the constitutional ceiling on Lok Sabha seats from 550 to 850 and permit delimitation or redrawing of constituency boundaries using the 2011 Census— was defeated in the House after failing to secure the two-thirds majority required to pass such a constitutional change.However, there has been speculation that the government will re-introduce the bill in the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, “provided it” had the numbers to pass.