New Delhi, Apr 16 — A sharp exchange broke out in the Lok Sabha on Thursday between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over the women’s reservation and delimitation Bills, with the government asserting that a caste census is underway and rejecting demands for religion-based reservation.
Responding to Opposition concerns, Shah said the Census process has already begun and will include caste enumeration. “I want to inform the entire country that the Census has begun… the government has decided to conduct a caste census,” he said.
The exchange followed objections raised by Yadav, who questioned the government’s urgency in pushing the Delimitation Bill without completing the Census. Supporting the women’s reservation in principle, he said sequencing was critical. “Why is the government in a hurry? Start with the Census first,” he said, alleging that delays in enumeration were linked to avoiding demands for caste-based reservation.
Shah, however, maintained that the legislative package was necessary to operationalise women’s reservation. “To take women’s reservation to its logical end, these Bills are required together,” he said.
He also firmly rejected calls for reservation for Muslim women on religious grounds. “Any reservation for Muslims on the basis of religion is unconstitutional… the Constitution does not permit it,” Shah said, adding that parties were free to field candidates as they chose but policy would not allow religion-based quotas.
The debate turned heated at points, prompting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to intervene and urge members to maintain order and avoid direct confrontations.
Congress leader K. C. Venugopal criticised the Delimitation Bill, calling it a “fundamental attack on India’s federal structure” and demanding its withdrawal.
The government has defended the Bills as part of a broader framework to expand Lok Sabha seats and implement the 33 per cent reservation for women, while the Opposition has raised concerns over the reliance on existing census data and the potential impact on representation across states.