Rahul Gandhi urges unconditional implementation of 2023 women's reservation law

In India, there is a law called the Women's Reservation Bill that was passed in 2023 with the support of almost everyone in Parliament.

The law says that about one third of the seats in Parliament and state assemblies should be kept aside for women.

Even after three years, the law has still not been put into action.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in Parliament, says the law should start working right away, with no extra conditions.

He says the government is needlessly linking the law to a process called delimitation, which decides the boundaries of voting areas.

Kiren Rijiju, the minister for parliamentary affairs, says the link with delimitation is already in the Constitution and not something the government invented.

He explained that a special bill to make the reservation happen faster using the 2011 Census did not get enough votes to pass.

Rijiju called Mr Gandhi's words positive and said there seemed to be a 'visible change of heart' about women.

He said he hopes the Congress party will support the Women's Reservation Bill without any conditions.

Both leaders say they want women to have more seats, but they disagree about how and when that should happen.