Fadnavis and Chidambaram clash over Women's Reservation rollout

The tension centers on the implementation timeline of the 106th Constitutional Amendment. Fadnavis claims that while the Congress party initially backed the legislation in 2023, they intentionally blocked subsequent measures designed to bypass census-related delays. He alleges that when the government introduced a proposal to utilize older census data to secure implementation by 2029, the opposition voted against it, effectively stalling the process.

This confrontation escalated after Chidambaram dismissed the Chief Minister’s criticisms as a product of cognitive fatigue. Chidambaram maintained that Congress supported the original 2023 bill in both houses of Parliament, framing Fadnavis's recent accusations as political misdirection. The debate reached a stalemate on April 16, when the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill—intended to expand Lok Sabha seats to 850 and fast-track the reservation quota—failed to secure the necessary two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. Fadnavis insists that Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains committed to the 2029 goal, despite the legislative setback and the ongoing war of words.