New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the government wants to hold the 2029 elections with Women’s Reservation for one-third of the Lok Sabha seats, but Congress wants to hold talks on the delimitation commission only in May.
In an interview on the Times Now Summit, the home minister said the government is trying to hold discussions with the opposition to set up a delimitation commission almost every day, and some opposition parties and NDA partners have agreed to discuss it.
“Some opposition parties have agreed to it, but the Congress is asking for a discussion in May. I fail to understand the reason. We are trying to convince them that if delimitation is a huge exercise in which discussions take place with states, hearings have to be held in each Parliamentary Constituency,” he said.
“If the delimitation is not completed, we cannot ensure reservation for women. I don’t know what the opposition is thinking, but we religiously want the 2029 elections to be held with women’s reservation,” he added.
Shah appealed to Congress leader in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, to have a discussion on the bill and get it passed.
“If the Congress wants reservations for women in legislative institutions, it should expedite discussions and cooperate in implementing the Nari Shakti Vandan Act as soon as possible… Communication is taking place through letters, but they have urged us not to do it now,” he said.
In a candid interview, Shah also outlined the government’s position on a range of key national and political issues, including national security, welfare policies and upcoming legislative measures.
On the discharge of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Excise policy case, the home minister said the case against him was strong, and the agencies have filed an appeal before the Delhi High Court.
“We have a three-tier judicial system. Till he gets cleared by the High Court and Supreme Court in case of appeal, no one has a right to call himself ‘Kattar Imandar’,” he said.
When asked about the transgender bill, the home minister said those who are genuinely transgender should receive all facilities.
“However, there should also be a system to determine who qualifies as transgender, and this is being addressed through the aTransgender Persons (Protection of Rights) (Amendment) Bill, 2026,” he said.
Shah also advocated strict punishment for Congress workers who had staged a half-naked protest during the recently concluded AI Summit.
“At the AI Summit, the work that Modi ji was doing to create opportunities for the youth of the country was obstructed by the Congress. The entire country has seen this, and strict action should certainly be taken on it,” he said.
He also said that he was sure a “double-engine government” would be formed in Punjab, which would make the state drug-free.
On a question about his three-day stay in the Seemanchal region of Bihar, Shah said he has given directions that all encroachments within 15 kilometres of the countryas borders will be removed.
“This has been decided by the Home Ministry, and the process has already begun in Biha. During the recent three-day stay in the region, I held meetings with all concerned officials to chalk out a strategy regarding this,” he said.
He also said that the country was on the verge of eliminating Naxalism, or that success had already been achieved.
“A new dawn of development is about to arrive in the lives of millions of tribal brothers and sisters living in the erstwhile infamous Tripapti to Pashupatinath Red Corridor,” he said.
The home minister made it clear that wherever BJP governments are in power, they will implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), and there will be one law for all religions.
When asked if the arrested group of Ukrainians and an American national was planning something in India, he said America was training the Ukrainians in Myanmar, but we have arrested them because they violated Indian laws by using our land to go to Myanmar and travelling to areas where permits are mandatory.
Matthew Aaron VanDyke, a US citizen and international security analyst, was detained at Kolkata airport while six Ukrainian nationals, identified as Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim, and Kaminskyi Viktor, were first detained at Delhi and Lucknow airports. They were later arrested by the NIA.
