NEW DELHI, AUG 19 (PTI): The Congress on Wednesday called for freezing the current strength of Lok Sabha at 543 seats for the next 25 years and demanded that 33 per cent reservation for women be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections itself.
The opposition party made the assertion after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) at the Indira Bhawan here.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge chaired the meeting and top leaders, including former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal, attended it.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Ramesh said that regarding delimitation, the Congress is in favour of keeping the current number of Lok Sabha seats — 543 — the same for the next 25 years.
“At the same time, we demand the implementation of women’s reservation on this very number,” Ramesh said.
In a resolution passed at the meeting, the Congress Working Committee reiterated its commitment to the immediate implementation of women’s reservation.
“The Congress Working Committee reinforces its demand that the constitutional freeze on the current strength of the Lok Sabha and its present allocation among the states be extended for the next 25 years, while one-third reservation for women be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections itself,” the CWC resolution said.
Earlier this week, the Congress had termed “drama” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to opposition parties to support the delimitation-linked bill for implementing women’s reservation, and alleged that his single point agenda is “Modi preservation, not women’s reservation”.
Ramesh had questioned the intentions behind Prime Minister Modi’s appeal and said instead of “sermonising” from the Red Fort, he must implement the quota on the current strength of the Lok Sabha for 2029 polls.
On April 17, during the Budget Session, the Modi government faced a setback as the Constitution Amendment Bill, involving delimitation, for the implementation of the women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was defeated in the Lower House.
Of the 528 MPs who voted in Lok Sabha, 298 voted in support, while 230 opposed it. The Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
