Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday launched a stinging attack on the government, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the women’s reservation issue to hang on to power and claimed that if the Constitution amendment Bill is passed, democracy in the country will cease to exist.Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on three Bills introduced for amendments in the women’s quota law and setting up a delimitation commission, Priyanka questioned why the government had linked the women’s quota law with delimitation. She said the PM should implement women’s reservation based on the current strength of the Lok Sabha (543 seats).If Modi truly respected the women of the country, he would not use them for political purpose, she said. The Congress MP asserted that a caste census was important as women from the OBC also needed to be given their due.“Is the Prime Minister afraid of a caste census, fearing that once the actual data emerges, it will reveal just how large and powerful the OBC community truly is?” she asked. She said this “reluctance undermined equitable representation and raised serious concerns about the government’s commitment to social justice”.In friendly banter, she told Home Minister Amit Shah that had Chanakya been alive today, he would have been startled by the BJP leader’s “political shrewdness”. “The Home Minister made the whole plan and he is laughing now…. He agrees with me,” the Congress leader said. She also took a swipe at Modi, saying from his remarks, it appeared as though the BJP was the sole champion of women’s reservation. “Any woman will tell you that women can instantly identify men who repeatedly try to mislead them,” she said.She accused the government of once again wanting to “dupe” people and launching a “big attack on the country’s integrity”. “On one hand there is this big talk of women’s reservation and on the other hand, the rights of OBC are being taken away. A strong structure is being erected for the next polls by reducing the influence of small states, shredding democracy to pieces,” she alleged.The Wayanad MP pointed out that Rahul Gandhi had written to Modi in 2018, urging the PM to implement the women’s reservation in legislative bodies. “The PM may mock Rahulji here (in the House), but once he goes home, he pays heed to his suggestions,” she said.Priyanka accused the government of using women’s reservation as a political tool rather than a genuine reform. She argued that the Bill, in its current form, risked weakening democratic structures, bypassing due process and marginalising key sections of society.Citing the historical context of women’s reservation, Priyanka said, “The provision for 33 per cent reservation for women in panchayats and municipalities was originally brought in Parliament by the Congress government under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhiji. However, those provisions could not be passed at that time.”Meanwhile, Shah assured Priyanka that the government had not made any changes to the delimitation commission. “We have replicated your delimitation commission Act. If you have tampered with it, I can say that we will not do so,” he said. (With PTI inputs)