Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Centre in the Lok Sabha, alleging that the Constitution amendment bill linked to women's reservation is an attempt to redraw India's electoral map by reducing representation of southern, northeastern and smaller states.

Participating in a debate on the three bills introduced for amendments to the women's quota law and setting up a delimitation commission, Rahul said, "This is not a women's bill as it has nothing to do with empowerment of women."

"This bill is an attempt to change the country's electoral map, using and hiding behind India's women," he alleged.

The Congress leader urged the government to bring back the 2023 Women's Reservation Act for implementation, saying the opposition would support its immediate passage.

He accused the government of denying power and representation to OBCs and claimed it wanted to ensure that the caste census had no bearing on political representation for the next 15 years.

"They are scared of the erosion of their strength, and are trying to rejig the Indian political map," he said.

"The government is telling the southern, northeastern, and smaller states that for the BJP to remain in power, 'we are going to take away representation from you'," Rahul said.

Calling the move an attack on the federal structure, Rahul said what the government was doing was nothing short of an "anti-national act".

"We won't allow you to do it; the entire opposition will defeat this attempt. I want to assure the southern, northeastern, and smaller states that we will not allow the government to touch your representation in the Union of India," he said.

Rahul further claimed the BJP knew the bill could not be passed and described its introduction as a "panic reaction" driven by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's twin objectives of reshaping India's electoral map and projecting himself as pro-women.

Responding to protests from treasury benches over his remarks linking Modi to events such as Balakot, demonetisation and Operation Sindoor, Rahul said, "The BJP thinks that they are the people of India; they also think that they are the armed forces. You are not the people of India, you are not the armed forces, so you should not hide behind the people and the armed forces."

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to amend the women's quota law was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday after a division of votes.

Two ordinary bills — the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill to implement the proposed amended women's quota law in Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir — were also introduced in the House.

In a lighter moment during the debate, Rahul said women play a central role in shaping society and public life.

"All of us in this room have been influenced, taught, and have learnt a lot from women in our lives – from mothers, sisters, wives," Rahul said.

"Of course, the prime minister and myself don't have the wife issue, so we don't get that input, but we have our mothers and sisters," he said, referring to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's earlier light-hearted comment that he was scolded at home for not writing a poem for his wife like Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.

Rahul also praised Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi's speech in the House.

"Yesterday, I was watching my sister achieve in five minutes what I have not been able to do in 20 years of my political career – make Amit Shah Ji smile," Rahul said to laughter in the Lok Sabha.