Published Apr 18, 2026 | 10:09 AM ⚊ Updated Apr 18, 2026 | 11:35 AM
Critics argue that delimitation based on current population would affect the representation of Southern states. (iStock)
Synopsis: Marketed as the implementation of the long-delayed 33 percent women’s reservation, the Bill was a calculated Trojan horse designed to engineer a massive northward shift of Lok Sabha seats, punish southern states for population control, and lock in BJP’s electoral dominance for decades.
In a brazen display of cynical politics, the BJP-led government’s attempt to ram through the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in April 2026 was never about empowering women, bundled with the Delimitation Bill and Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, was a masterclass in political deception.
Marketed as the long-awaited implementation of the 33 percent women’s reservation promised in the 106th Constitutional Amendment of 2023, it was in reality a calculated assault on India’s federal structure, a brazen attempt to tilt the electoral map permanently in favour of the Hindi heartland and secure the BJP’s dominance for decades.
The united Opposition’s decisive defeat of the Bill in the Lok Sabha on 17 April 2026—298 votes in favour against the required 352, falling 54 votes short of the required majority—has temporarily saved India’s federal structure. It further exposed the charade and saved southern and smaller states from a demographic death sentence. Yet the BJP’s evil designs stand naked for all to see.
Also Read: NDA’s push for delimitation fails after Lok Sabha defeats Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill
Let us be clear. The 2023 Women’s Reservation Act was deliberately designed to remain a paper promise. It tied implementation to a future census and delimitation exercise, ensuring that no woman would actually enter Parliament or state assemblies before 2029 at the earliest.
When the BJP suddenly discovered urgency in 2026, it was not out of newfound love for “Nari Shakti”. It was because the party saw a golden opportunity to weaponise the women’s quota as a Trojan horse for a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
By expanding the Lok Sabha from 543 to approximately 850 seats using 15-year-old population data, the BJP sought to reward northern states—Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan—for their higher fertility rates while punishing southern states like Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala that have successfully controlled their populations through education, health programmes and responsible governance.
This is not empowerment; it is electoral engineering of the most cynical kind. Under the BJP’s formula, southern states that have contributed disproportionately to India’s economic growth, IT revolution, agricultural exports and tax revenues would see their relative political voice diminished.
Telangana, which has fought for equitable development and fair share of resources ever since the statehood movement, would be among the biggest losers. Seats would shift northward, entrenching the very regional imbalance the BJP claims to fight. The party’s allies in the NDA—those fair-weather partners who mouthed support for women’s rights—stood complicit in this conspiracy, willing to sacrifice federalism at the altar of Narendra Modi’s perpetual power.
Also Read: Tejasvi Surya claims formation of Telangana was ‘worse than Partition’, draws condemnation
Rahul Gandhi rightly called it an “anti-national act”. The Bill had nothing to do with giving women a greater say in legislation. It was about changing the country’s electoral geography to ensure that the BJP could win even with declining support in the south and east.
By insisting on 2011 data instead of waiting for the fresh census (already delayed by the government itself), the BJP wanted to freeze the north’s demographic advantage before southern states could reap the political dividend of their developmental success. This is the same BJP that lectures the south on “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” while systematically undermining the very principle of equal representation that binds the Union.
The hypocrisy is staggering. For years the BJP opposed women’s reservation when it suited them. They blocked sub-quotas for OBC, SC and ST women that the Opposition demanded. They offered no roadmap for immediate implementation.
Then, when electoral arithmetic demanded a fresh narrative ahead of 2029, they repackaged delimitation as women’s empowerment. Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah tried to paint the Opposition as “anti-women”.
The truth is the reverse. By defeating this Bill, the Opposition protected not only women’s genuine future representation but also the federal balance that prevents any single region from dominating the rest.
This was never about daughters, sisters or mothers. It was about votes—raw, calculated, majoritarian votes. The BJP’s strategy was simple: use the emotional appeal of women’s quota to bulldoze through a delimitation that would punish states for family planning success, reward states for population explosion, and guarantee the party a permanent majority in the expanded House.
The women of India were mere props in this sordid drama. The real beneficiaries would have been the BJP’s northern strongholds and the centralising, unitary vision that this government has pursued since 2014—whether through GST, farm laws, or the relentless erosion of state autonomy.
The defeat of the Bill is a victory for constitutionalism, but the battle is far from over. The BJP has already begun its propaganda war, accusing the Opposition of “betraying women”.
Let the record show who the real betrayers are. It is the BJP that delayed the census, that sabotaged genuine delimitation based on current data, and that tried to smuggle a fundamental restructuring of Parliament under the guise of gender justice.
India deserves better. Women deserve a reservation that actually empowers them, not one that serves as camouflage for a power grab. Southern and smaller states deserve fair representation that reflects their contribution to the national economy, not a demographic penalty for responsible governance. Telangana and its people, who sacrificed for statehood and continue to fight for equitable development, will not be short-changed by Delhi’s machinations.
The BJP’s evil designs have been laid bare. The mask has slipped. The people of India—women and men, north and south—must now ensure that such cynical politics never succeeds again. True empowerment of women and true federal justice demand nothing less.
Also Read: ‘No injustice will be done to any state’: PM Modi assures fair delimitation process
(Edited by Sumavarsha, views expressed here are personal)
