'Empowerment Delayed Is Empowerment Denied': Congress MP Hibi Eden Terms Women's Quota Bill A 'Political Agenda'
Hibi Eden termed the Women's Reservation Bill "a constitutional redesign disguised as empowerment and a Trojan horse."
Published : April 17, 2026 at 3:21 PM IST
New Delhi: Congress MP Hibi Eden on Friday slammed the Narendra Modi government for using the Women's Reservation Bill as a political agenda, saying it was a "loudest political statement by the party that it has already lost the 2029 elections."
"You can not win the game, so you are just trying to change the rules," a Congress MP said while speaking during the Lok Sabha special sitting. He alleged that the Modi government had tweaked India's Constitution and voiced it as a reason to oppose the bill.
"The bill is a blatant attack on the Constitution and the cooperative federal structure of India", Eden stressed. He further termed the bill "a constitutional redesign disguised as empowerment and a Trojan horse"
He asked the government to pass the bill immediately without waiting for the delimitation process to complete, saying, "empowerment delayed is empowerment denied.
"If the intent is genuine, then why is the delimitation not clearly defined in the bill. Where is the guarantee? Why do the shares of the states remain protected?" he asked.
He further asked why the state of shares is not clearly defined in the bill, even after the Prime Minister, earlier in his speech on Thursday, said that no state will lose its share.
He said," Delimitation is not arithmetic but power as it decides who speaks louder in the house and whose voice becomes smaller, and when the power shifts without safeguards, democracy doesn't break one day. It tills slowly."
He concluded by asking the government not to link Women's rights to a process that can reshape the federal balance. Do not make the women wait for political convenience. "Give women representation today," he added.
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