“Cowardly, Hypocritical and Fork Tongued” : Mamata Banerjee Slams PM Modi Over Women’s Reservation and Delimitation Debate

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue of women’s reservatioin , using the words “Cowardly, Hypocritical and Fork Tongued” in a post on social media platform ‘X’ . In the post she said , the Trinamool Congress has always supported the greater political representation for women , and argued that the Centre was trying to use  the women’s reservation issue as a shield for a delimitation plan she strongly opposes .

The background to the row is the Constitution (106 th Amendment Act), 2023 , which the Parliament passed in September 2023 . The law provides for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies . However it’s implementation is tied to a future census and a subsequent delimitation exercise, rather than taking effect immediately .

Delimitation is the legal process of redrawing constituency boundaries on the basis of census data. The Election Commission says Parliament enacts a delimitation law after every census, and that the exercise is used to redraw parliamentary and assembly constituencies. This is why the reservation law and delimitation have become linked in political debate.  

In her post on ‘X’ , Banerjee said that the Trinamool Congress does not oppose women’s reservation , but is against what it sees as the political use of the delimitation to alter representational and strengthen the BJP’s position at the expense of other states. 
She stated, “What we are fundamentally opposed to is the Delimitation exercise that the Modi Government was plotting to push through by using women as a shield for its vested political agenda.” She further alleged that such a move could lead to “the altering of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution” and “the usurpation of power through gerrymandering,” claiming that redrawing political boundaries may result in “greater representation to BJP ruled states at the expense of others.” Calling it “an assault on federal democracy,” Banerjee added that her party would not remain silent on the issue.
She also questioned why the Centre did not move faster after the law was passed in 2023, and why the issue is being pushed now when several states are heading to elections. 

The debate has added to the larger political confrontation between the Centre and the Trinamool Congress over constitutional reform, federal balance and electoral representation. While there is broad political support for increasing women’s presence in legislatures, the timing and method of implementation remain a point of conflict.