Sachin Sawant Urges NCP (SP) MPs to Press PM Modi on Immediate Women's Reservation

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant on Sunday urged Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) Members of Parliament in Mumbai to firmly present the INDIA bloc's position on immediate women's reservation during their upcoming meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sawant stated that the Opposition alliance believes the 2023 women's reservation law should be implemented without delay and must not be linked to the delimitation process. His statement came following announcements that NCP (SP) MPs are scheduled to meet Prime Minister Modi on Monday to raise critical matters concerning Maharashtra.

The Congress spokesperson called on the parliamentarians to use the opportunity to explicitly outline the Opposition's demands regarding the legislation. He reiterated that tying the reservation of seats for women to delimitation creates unnecessary delays in giving women equal legislative representation.

The backdrop to Sawant's appeal is the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, where the central government is making a fresh attempt to pass a Constitution Amendment Bill. This legislative measure seeks to implement a 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures starting from 2029.

As part of the same bill, the government proposes to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies nationwide, a restructuring that would expand the total number of seats in the lower house of Parliament to 816.

Sawant emphasized that the delegation of NCP (SP) lawmakers must firmly push Prime Minister Modi to decouple the 33 per cent legislative quota from the constituency expansion plan, ensuring that immediate effect is given to the 2023 law.