The political battle over women’s reservation and delimitation intensified on Sunday after the Shiromani Akali Dal indicated support for a combined implementation plan, while senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram backed Rahul Gandhi’s demand that the quota be introduced without conditions.

The renewed confrontation began after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju challenged Rahul Gandhi to support the implementation of women’s reservation “unconditionally”.

Gandhi responded that the Congress had already supported the legislation when Parliament passed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in 2023. He questioned why the law had not been implemented and why the government was connecting it with delimitation.

Chidambaram Joins the Debate

Chidambaram supported Gandhi’s position on Sunday, accusing the government of unnecessarily linking the women’s quota with the politically contentious redrawing of parliamentary constituencies.

He argued that the reservation could be implemented before the 2029 Lok Sabha election without waiting for delimitation. His intervention has turned the exchange between Rijiju and Gandhi into a wider political confrontation.

The latest comments were reported by India Today.

Akali Dal Signals Important Shift

Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party supported one-third reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies, along with a “fair and equitable” delimitation exercise.

The announcement came after Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It represents a shift from the Akali Dal’s earlier opposition to implementing women’s reservation and delimitation together.

The SAD left the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in 2020 over the three farm laws. Although it currently has only one Lok Sabha member, its changed position could become politically significant if the government again introduces a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds majority.

According to The Times of India, the government may revive a proposal to increase the Lok Sabha’s maximum strength from 550 to 850 while implementing women’s reservation. However, no date for reintroducing such a measure has been officially announced.

An earlier proposal linked to parliamentary expansion and women’s reservation failed to secure the required two-thirds support in April 2026, according to Reuters.

Why Delimitation Is Contentious

Southern states fear that population-based delimitation could reduce their relative influence in Parliament compared with more populous northern states. Opposition parties have also demanded safeguards to ensure that states which successfully controlled population growth are not penalised.

The government argues that delimitation is constitutionally required and that women’s political representation should form part of the wider restructuring.