Hyderabad: Alleging the NDA govt lacked sincerity in implementing women reservations in legislative bodies, chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement the 33% women quota in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections to be held in 2027 and prove BJP’s sincerity. He accused the central govt of conspiring to abolish reservation for all, citing BJP’s slogan of ‘Char Sau Paar’ (crossing the 400-seat mark) to amend the Constitution against the quota for all sections during the 2024 general elections. The CM reiterated Congress and the Telangana govt oppose delimitation of seats on a pro-rata basis and said hybrid model, which he proposed, will be the best.Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Revanth Reddy proposed drafting a new legislation for women’s reservations and presenting it before Parliament by Monday, and the legislation should be implemented from Tuesday itself. “The bill should ensure that one-third of the current 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, as well as one-third of the seats in state assemblies, are reserved for women. If such a bill is introduced, INDIA Bloc will extend its support to it like in 2023,” the CM added.Revanth Reddy said that the Election Commission had already collected the 2011 Census data and other relevant information. Since the delimitation exercise was conducted earlier in 2009, and based on those figures, it was possible to implement 33% reservation for women by Aug 15, 2026. With these reservations in place, the policy could be implemented in the 2027 elections to held in Uttar Pradesh from where PM Modi got elected to the Lok Sabha,” he said.The CM also announced that he was ready to take the initiative of holding discussions with the chief ministers of the southern states — Stalin, Pinarayi Vijayan, Siddaramaiah, Chandrababu Naidu and Puducherry CM N Rangasamy — and garner their support to the women’s bill. The CM recounted that Amit Shah claimed they could modify the bill if granted just one hour. However, pointing out that time was available until Monday, he asserted that if BJP were to introduce the Women’s Reservation Bill based on the current 543 seats, they would ensure its passage as early as Tuesday.Revanth Reddy said Congress, with the support of other opposition parties, has once again thwarted BJP’s attempt to amend the Constitution and abolish reservations under the guise of bills concerning women’s reservations, constituency delimitation and the expansion of constituencies. Referring to the delimitation of constituencies, Revanth Reddy recommended the Centre convene an all-party meeting. Consultations with experts, views of every state govt and public opinion should be sought in every Lok Sabha constituency and a decision taken on the delimitation. The CM opposed the delimitation of the constituencies based on a pro-rata basis and asserted that the number of seats in the legislative assemblies could be increased in consultation with the respective states.
