NEW DELHI, APRIL 16— A spirited debate erupted in the Lok Sabha on Thursday as Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav clashed over the government’s move to table the Constitution Amendment and Delimitation Bills. The confrontation centered on the inclusion of Muslim women in the proposed quota and the timing of the national Census.
The Samajwadi Party demanded a specific “reservation within reservation” for Muslim women, a proposal that the Home Minister dismissed by citing constitutional boundaries. Shah stated that the Constitution does not permit reservation based on religion, noting that while parties are free to distribute their own election tickets to any community, legal quotas must adhere to established constitutional frameworks. “Any reservation for Muslims on the basis of religion is unconstitutional,” Shah declared.
Questioning the government’s sequencing of the reforms, Akhilesh Yadav criticized the decision to push the Delimitation Bill before the completion of a fresh Census. He maintained that a thorough Census is a prerequisite for any seat redistribution and alleged that the current approach was a maneuver to bypass immediate calls for caste-based data. “Why is the government in a hurry? Start with the Census first,” Yadav asserted during the session.
In response, the Home Minister clarified that the Census process is currently active and will address the Opposition’s concerns regarding demographics. Shah affirmed that the upcoming enumeration would indeed include caste-based data. “I want to inform the entire country that the Census has begun. The government has decided to conduct a caste census, and the enumeration will include caste data,” he stated.
