Politics in Bihar has once again heated up over the issue of women’s reservation. CPI(ML) and its affiliated women’s organization AIPWA have accused the BJP-led central government of “spreading lies” and announced a statewide protest across Bihar on April 24. The decision was taken at a one-day meeting of the party’s state standing committee held on Monday at its state office in Patna.
Several senior leaders, including state secretary Kunal, were present at the meeting. The leaders strongly criticized what they called “misleading propaganda” by the central government following the recent bills introduced in Parliament and their subsequent failure. The committee clarified that the provision for women’s reservation had already been passed by Parliament in September 2023, and the bill that recently fell was related to delimitation, not women’s reservation.
The party questioned why delimitation is being made a mandatory condition for implementing women’s reservation. It demanded that the reservation be implemented immediately without delay, and that a broad national consensus be built on the complex issue of delimitation.
The committee also alleged that the central government has deliberately linked women’s reservation with the census and delimitation to delay its implementation. According to the leaders, due to delays in the census, the issue is now being pushed forward through an “opaque and questionable” delimitation process, which the opposition exposed in Parliament.
The demand for a “quota within quota” was also strongly raised during the meeting. The party stated that without ensuring separate representation for women from backward classes, Dalits, and minority communities within the women’s reservation, social justice would remain incomplete.
The committee further emphasized that historically, there has never been a condition to increase the total number of seats in Parliament or state assemblies to implement reservation. Therefore, the current conditions were termed “unnecessary and political.”
Accusing the BJP of spreading “lies and confusion,” CPI(ML) said the April 24 statewide protest would aim to raise public awareness and build pressure on the government. The party also indicated that it would reach out to other Mahagathbandhan allies to organize a joint movement on the issue.
The meeting also discussed the current political situation in Bihar and reviewed preparations for the party’s state conference scheduled to be held in Darbhanga from May 16 to 18.
With political tensions rising over the issue of women’s reservation, the coming days could see intensified political activity in Bihar, especially as the opposition prepares to turn the issue into a mass movement.
