Dimapur district BJP Mahila Morcha President Aboli V Awomi (left); BJP State Council Member, Kahuli Sema (third from left); Dimapur district BJP President, Shekishe Awomi (middle); and BJYM General Secretary Likao Odyuo (right) along with other party leaders at the press conference in Dimapur, on April 21.
• Justifies bid for women's seat reservation
• Says doubt over Delimitation unfounded
Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 21
After failing the vote test in Parliament in what was proclaimed as a push to implement the Women's Reservation Act, 2023, the ruling BJP-led NDA continued its country-wide media blitzkrieg against the Congress-led INDIA bloc.
In Nagaland, the state unit of the BJP conducted another press call in Dimapur on April 21, following on from the previous day’s press conference in Kohima called by its state unit’s Mahila Morcha, and which was addressed by the party’s Rajya Sabha Member from Nagaland, S Phangnon Konyak.
The Dimapur press conference was addressed by the state unit’s various wings led by its State Council Member, Kahuli Sema.
Sema questioned why opposition parties, who publicly claim to support the reservation, did not vote for the bill. “We are wondering why in their mouths they are saying that they support, but in reality, they did not vote,” Sema said, while claiming that blocking the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, has disappointed women who wished to participate in the highest decision-making bodies.
Dimapur district BJP President, Shekishe Awomi stated that the intent of the bill, introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was to increase the number of parliamentary seats from 543 to 815. Awomi accused the opposition alliance of constructing “fake narratives” to sabotage the initiative. He termed the opposition’s stance as a “direct affront to women’s rights.”
Dimapur district BJP Mahila Morcha president Aboli V Awomi urged women to raise their voices regardless of party affiliation. While acknowledging existing “confusion” regarding the delimitation process, she maintained that the move for seat reservation was intended to take womenfolk forward.
Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) General Secretary Likao Odyuo held that coupling the Delimitation Bill was beside the point. According to him, the main concern was 33 percent seat reservation for women. He said that seat expansion was necessary to accommodate population growth, as the current 543 Lok Sabha seats were based on the 1971 census, when the population was 54 crore. He added, “Now, at this juncture, we have a 140-crore (approximate) population.”
He termed the questions surrounding the constitutionality of the ruling coalition’s bid for delimitation based on the 2011 Census as “technical issues.” “Let's keep those technical issues to the wisdom of higher authorities,” he said.
According to the party, apprehension that delimitation might disadvantage smaller states in the north-eastern and the bigger states in southern India was unfounded. Shekishe Awomi said that proportional representation for the north-eastern region would be protected and that seats in southern states would increase. Awomi also dismissed suggestions that the Naga People’s Front (NPF), a coalition partner, had not been consulted, asserting that they are stakeholders in the process.
The Women’s Reservation Act, 2023, also known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, provides for reserving 33 percent of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, and state legislative assemblies, including the Delhi Assembly. The Act has yet to be implemented however. Coupled with the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the ruling BJP-led NDA regime unsuccessfully pushed for implementing the 2023 seat reservation legislation by introducing the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, in a special 3-day session (April 16-18) of Parliament this month.
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