New Delhi [India], April 17 : Congress MPs on Friday accused the Centre of misleading the House on the Women's Reservation Bill and opposed its linkage with the proposed Delimitation Bill, demanding an all-party meeting before voting.
Congress MP Mallu Ravi alleged the Prime Minister was making "misleading statements" on the floor of the House and added that the party had sought an all-party meeting ahead of the vote.
"Prime minister is giving misleading statements on the floor of the house. He knows that the Congress party is very serious about passing the bill... They have linked it with the delimitation. That is why we are opposing the bill... We made a request to call for all party meetings before the voting. But they are not calling it... They are saying that if anybody opposes it, they will have to pay a penalty, and they will lose their seats..."," he told ANI.
Ravi also targeted BJP MP Tejasvi Surya over his remarks during a discussion on delimitation in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"Tejasvi Surya, an MP from Karnataka, made very derogatory statements against Telangana... He said that the separation of Telangana and Andhra is like India and Pakistan... Yesterday, in the house, Kishan Reddy supported his statement. We are going to hold a protest against these two people and demand their apology openly," Ravi added.
Earlier, addressing the Lower House of Parliament, Surya had said, "Why are Opposition parties and some regional parties of the South, led by the DMK, making so much noise? The tears they are shedding are crocodile tears. I thank heaven that in 2026, when the country undertakes delimitation, the BJP-led Centre will carry it out. The Congress government divided Andhra Pradesh into two parts, and they did worse than the British in partitioning the country."
His remarks sparked widespread criticism from Telangana leaders.
Congress MP Ujjwal Raman Singh questioned the government's intent on the Women's Reservation Bill. "The government doesn't want to pass the bill. If it wanted to pass the bill, it would have called an all-party meeting. It would have talked to the opposition parties, sought the Congress party's opinion, and then passed the bill," he told ANI.
Citing Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, Singh added, "Yesterday, Priyanka Gandhi said if you want, you can take all the credit, but what's the problem in providing 33% reservation out of 543?"
Additionally, Congress MP Imran Masood called for a caste census before moving ahead. "I don't understand what the hurry is that you don't want to wait for the census. Let the caste census happen, and talk about giving rights to those who should get the rights," Masood told ANI.
He said the proposed increase in seats required a detailed discussion. "This isn't some program; it's a very big issue, and it needs detailed discussion. If seats need to be increased, there should be a detailed discussion," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier sought to allay apprehension of opposition parties over the delimitation of constituencies and the "proportionate increase" in the strength of the Lok Sabha to implement the Women's Reservation Act from the 2029 polls.
Lok Sabha is continuing its discussion and vote 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 to 850.
Earlier on Thursday, the Lok Sabha held a marathon 12-hour session to discuss the amendments to the women's reservation bill, which removes the need to implement the bill only after the census is conducted.