Rahul Gandhi is the Congress' Lok Sabha MP from Kerala's Wayanad.
The Congress "100 per cent regrets" it did not pass the women's reservation bill when it was in power, Rahul Gandhi said Friday afternoon. He acknowledged that had his party accepted the demand for a quota for women from OBC communities - a demand it rejected in 2010 but is now championing - the landmark bill might have become law a decade ago.
"100 per cent... (we have) 100 per cent regret," Rahul Gandhi said after calling out the Bharatiya Janata Party over a potential delay of a further six years or more before the new bill comes into effect.
The call for a quota within a quota for OBC women was made by the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in 2010, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had tabled its version of the bill. The Congress rejected that demand and a furious SP and RJD withdrew support. The bill, which had already cleared the Rajya Sabha, never made it to the Lok Sabha.
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The Congress has been critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party's version of the bill since it mandates a census and delimitation, or redrawing of constituency boundaries, before implementation. This means it is unlikely to come into effect before the 2029 election and possibly not till 2034.
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The opposition has united to condemn the government for this delay, demanding provisions for conduct of a census and delimitation be dropped and the quota be implemented immediately.
Ex-Congress boss Sonia Gandhi asked, "How many years will they (women) have to wait... two... four... eight? Congress demands the bill be implemented immediately," as she called for "reservation for women from SC, ST and OBC communities". "Delaying this would be gross injustice to women."
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The BJP has hit back by pointing out the Congress had not been able to pass this bill and told Parliament the delay is to ensure "transparency" in deciding which seats are to be reserved.
"If we are reserving one-third seats, who will do it? If we do it, you will question... If we reserve Wayanad (Rahul Gandhi's constituency), you will say it is political," Home Minister Amit Shah said.
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"What this (the census and delimitation provisions) means is this bill won't be implemented now... it won't be implemented today and this is something every woman in India should understand," Mr Gandhi countered today, adding, "If at all it is implemented, it will be 10 years from now."
Rahul Gandhi also attacked the BJP for using the women's reservation bill as a "diversionary tactic" to shift focus from the demand for a caste census, which the Congress MP said is needed for a better understanding of the various castes and communities that make up India's vast population.
The Congress leader referred to the point he raised in Parliament - that only three of 90 Secretaries to the Government of India were from OBC communities and that, collectively, senior officials from OBCs and other marginalised groups, including tribes, control less than five per cent of the budget.