Left parties accuse Centre of using women's quota as ‘smokescreen’ for delimitation push

NEW DELHI: (Apr 16) Left leaders on Thursday criticised the Centre's move to link women's reservation with a fresh delimitation exercise, calling it a "devious" and "nefarious" attempt to alter India's political balance in the guise of a pro-women reform.

CPI-M General Secretary M A Baby said the current proposal departs from earlier efforts that had already laid a clear roadmap for implementing women's reservation in legislatures.

Referring to the Geeta Mukherjee Committee report, Baby said that “it was very clear about how we should go about” ensuring representation for women.