3 min readPuneApr 22, 2026 09:58 PM ISTThe BJP was led by MP Tejasvi Surya while the Congress was led by party spokesperson Nigah Abbas. (Express Archive)The tussle between the ruling BJP and Congress-led Opposition in Parliament over the amendment to the Women Reservation Bill — which concerns fixing Lok Sabha and Assembly seats across the country and the delimitation of constituencies — during the recent special session has now reached the streets of Pune. Both the Congress and BJP have launched campaigns to reach out to the public with their respective stands. The BJP was led by MP Tejasvi Surya while the Congress was led by party spokesperson Nigah Abbas.“The Congress, by rejecting the amendment, has betrayed all women of the country as well as the people of Maharashtra. The amendment would have enabled the number of seats from Maharashtra to go up to 72 from the existing 48,” BJP MP and youth wing chief Tejasvi Surya said.The BJP wants to put public pressure on all political parties to get the amendment approved when it is tabled again, he said. “The BJP is committed to get the reservation of seats for women and would work towards it till it is implemented with all political parties extending support. The BJP might not have the numbers for getting two-thirds majority to approve the amendment till the next Lok Sabha elections, so this tussle will be long,” he said.The increase in Lok Sabha seats is important considering the increase in population, Surya said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to increase 50 per cent seats in each state to maintain the current ratio of representation of each state in Parliament while the delimitation was planned to ensure equal distribution of population in each constituency of the state.The Congress has opposed reservation for women in Lok Sabha and Assembly seats since 1996, so it was delayed for so long, he said.Congress national spokesperson Nigah Abbas said the party is committed to reservation for women in elections and wants its immediate implementation without any new conditions. “The ruling BJP’s insistence on amendment in the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam exposes their hidden agenda. They want political gain through delimitation and not doing it for women empowerment,” she said, adding the Women Reservation Bill was approved unanimously on September 22 in 2023 and it was deliberately not implemented by the BJP in the last three years.The timing of the notification for amendment on April 16 all of a sudden raises doubt over the real intention of the BJP-led government, said Abbas, “If the government was really sincere then why didn’t it implement the reservation in 2024 Lok Sabha election after the Bill was approved.”Story continues below this ad“The real objective of BJP was to force delimitation in its interest by changing the political boundaries as per their convenience. Any attempt to force delimitation on pretext of women’s reservation will be opposed,” she said.Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:puneAdvertisementLoading Recommendations...