New Delhi : Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday said linking women's reservation to the delimitation exercise is "holding aspirations of Indian women hostage" and warned that delimitation could "tear the fabric of federalism," urging that it be discussed in detail and not rushed through.
Speaking in the lower house of the Parliament on the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, urged the government to pass the Women's Reservation Bill immediately, while deferring discussions on delimitation.
"... The Prime Minister says the Government has bought Nari Shakti a gift of justice. But he has wrapped it in barbed wire, tethering the implementation of women's reservation to the expansion of Parliament, to numbers from the 2011 Census and an exercise of delimitation.
Why must we entangle a moral imperative with a demographic minefield? Women's reservation is ready for harvest... To link it to delimitation is to hold the aspirations of Indian women hostage to one of the most contentious and complex administrative exercises in our nation's history."
He also said Congress supports giving women their reservation in Parliament and state assemblies. Tharoor said, "To link women's reservation to delimitation is holding aspirations of Indian women hostage. Delimitation is fraught with complications that will tear the fabric of federalism. There should be an extensive discussion on the delimitation process. It cannot be conducted in haste. Pass the women's reservation bill today, we will support it. As for delimitation, let us defer it. Give women their reservation... please consider the larger interest of the country."
Tharoor cautioned against rushing the delimitation exercise, saying it could create imbalances between states that have controlled population growth and those that have not. He said delimitation requires careful deliberation and warned that it could deepen regional disparities and weaken federal balance. He also criticised what he called political messaging around the 50 per cent formula and urged that the process not be hurried, saying it should not become a "political demonisation."
"We must be candid about what the implications of the delimitation are... Delimitation requires deliberation. There are three major faultlines: the balance between small and big states. Then, the balance between states like Tamil Naduand Kerala, which have implemented the national goals of population goals. And states in the north which have not. In delimitation, states which have failed to control population will be rewarded with greater political weight," Tharoor said.
"The 50 per cent formula proposed by Amit Shah is a precarious political statement; it is not promised by the legislature. We risk creating the tyranny of the majority delimitation done with the haste of demonetization, delimitation will turn out to be political demonisation, dont do it," teh MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.
Lok Sabha is continuing its discussion on the passage of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, which provides 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and State Assemblies, along with the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 extending it to Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, and the Delimitation Bill, which is set to increase and redraw Lok Sabha constituencies, increasing them up to 850.