After tying women’s quota to delimitation, why shift blame, ask women activists

“We have been fighting for women’s representation in politics since the 1970s. It should have been on par with men by now. It’s a fundamental right. Why tie it to delimitation? I feel tired now,” said 74-year-old Donna Fernandes, one of the founding members of women’s rights group Vimochana and founder of Aweksha.

Conversations around women’s reservation have come up again as the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, that sought to redistribute Lok Sabha seats on the basis of the 2011 Census, was defeated. While the ruling NDA has been blaming the Opposition for blocking a Bill, which, according to the government, was meant to fast-track the implementation of the women’s reservation law, women’s groups and activists in Karnataka question why its rollout is tied to the delimitation exercise in the first place.