'Anti-national act': Rahul Gandhi alleges quota bill a covert bid to redraw India's electoral map

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a sharp attack on the government in the Lok Sabha, alleging that the Constitution amendment bill linked to women's reservation is a covert attempt to redraw India's electoral map to retain power, calling it an "anti-national act".

Participating in a debate on three bills related to amendments to the women's quota law and the proposed delimitation commission, Gandhi said the proposal does not advance women's empowerment. "This (bill) is an attempt to change the country's electoral map, using and hiding behind India's women," he said, terming it a "shameful act".

He urged the government to instead implement the 2023 Women's Reservation Act, assuring the Opposition's full support for its immediate passage.


Calling it a "very dangerous thing", Gandhi alleged the move seeks to bypass a caste census and dilute representation of OBCs, Dalits and minorities. "They are trying to avoid giving power, representation to my OBC brothers and sisters, and instead take power away from them," he said, adding that the real agenda is "Manuvaad over Samvidhan".

He further claimed the government wants to ensure that caste census findings have no bearing on representation for the next 15 years, describing it as an attempt to "kick the ball down the street".

"You are scared of the erosion of your strength, and you are trying to rejig the Indian political map. You have done it in Jammu and Kashmir, you have done it in Assam, and now you are imagining that you can do it in the whole of India," he said.


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Gandhi alleged that southern, northeastern and smaller states are being told their representation will be reduced to keep BJP in power. "What the government is doing is nothing short of an anti-national act," he said, asserting that the Opposition would defeat any such attempt.

He said, "You (BJP) call OBCs Hindus, you call Dalits Hindus, but you do not give them any space in the power structure of the country." He also assured southern, northeastern and smaller states that their representation in the Union would not be compromised.

Drawing parallels with the past, Gandhi said former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had faced similar questions but "understood the dangers" and refrained from such actions, unlike Prime Minister Narendra Modi.


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His remarks, including an anecdote likening politics to a magic trick, triggered protests from treasury benches, with defence minister Rajnath Singh demanding an apology. Responding, Gandhi said, "BJP thinks that they are the people of India; they also think that they are the armed forces. You are not the people of India, you are not the armed forces, so you should not hide behind the people and the armed forces."

He claimed the bill's introduction was a "panic reaction" driven by two objectives - to alter India's electoral map and project a pro-women stance. Gandhi opened his speech with a personal anecdote about his grandmother, Indira Gandhi, linking it to the idea that truth often lies in confronting fear and darkness. He concluded with a cryptic remark around the number "16", without elaboration.

In a post on X later, Gandhi reiterated: "This bill is anti-OBC, this bill is anti-SC-ST, this bill is anti-national - against the south, northeast, northwest and small states."

"We will neither let anyone's rights be snatched away, nor let the country be divided," he said.