Leaders of the INDIA bloc announced on Wednesday their opposition to the delimitation bill introduced alongside an amendment to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, which seeks to provide 33 per cent reservation for women legislators in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

The bloc clarified that it supports women's reservation and called for the implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023. However, it objected to the delimitation process, citing concerns that it would weaken the representation of southern and north-eastern states in the Lok Sabha.

The decision was reached during a meeting at the residence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi. Attendees included Congress President Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, RJD Working President Tejashwi Yadav, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal, and other senior INDIA bloc figures.

Following the meeting, Mallikarjun Kharge stated that the government's move was "politically motivated" to suppress opposition parties. He said, "We are all in favour of the Women's Reservation Bill. But the way in which they have brought it, we have reservations about that. It is politically motivated. Just to suppress the Opposition parties, the govt is doing this. Though we have supported the Women's Reservation Bill continuously, we insist that the earlier amendments be implemented. They are playing some tricks with delimitation. We all parties should unitedly should fight in Parliament. We will oppose this bill, but we are not against the reservation (for women)."

Kharge further criticised the government's approach, stating, "The way in which they have put in the bill, be it delimitation, they have not even cleared the census. All powers of the Constitution are being taken by the executive. Mostly, the power which can be exercised by the institutions, the parliament they have given is so that they can change delimitation at any time…They have already deceived us in Assam and J&K."

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh echoed these concerns, describing the delimitation commission as a "weapon" controlled by the BJP. He said, "This delimitation is very dangerous. According to this bill, the proportion of many states will decrease, especially for southern states and northeastern states. The way the delimitation commission has worked in Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, it is clear that the commission is a weapon in the BJP's hands to gain a majority. We are against the delimitation. We want women's reservation from the next Lok Sabha election."