For over a decade, pro-Congress leftist rag The Wire has positioned itself as the moral guardian of India’s liberal conscience. But on no issue has its editorial compass spun more visibly than Women’s Reservation – flipping from outrage at inaction, to suspicion of action, with barely a breath in between.
2016: “Why Hasn’t It Been Passed Yet?”
When nothing was happening on the Women’s Reservation front under the BJP government, The Wire was indignant. On 16 September 2016, it tweeted not once but twice: “Why has the Women’s Reservation Bill been tossed around for 20 years?” and “The Women’s Reservation Bill completed 20 years of existence on Sept 12. Why hasn’t it been passed yet?”
Their narrative was clear: the BJP was indifferent to women’s rights. Delay was betrayal. The government had no excuse. Women’s reservation was sacrosanct, and a government that didn’t deliver it was failing Indian women.
2023: “Not Before 2029 At Earliest”
Then came September 2023 – the BJP actually passed the Nari Vandan Adhiniyam. This should have been a moment The Wire welcomed, given seven years of demanding it. Instead, the platform pivoted instantly. Sravasti Dasgupta’s piece on 19 September 2023 bore the headline: “Women’s Reservation Bill Tabled but Earliest It Can Be Implemented Is 2029 LS Election.”
The framing had changed entirely. Emphasis shifted to the delimitation and census linkage clause – real concerns, to be sure but conveniently burying what The Wire had demanded for years. A bill it once screamed for was reduced to a technicality. The Wire told its readers: don’t get excited, Modi’s “historic” label is hollow.
2026: “Why Now? The Timing Is Political”
By March 2026, with Amit Shah actively pushing implementation through delimitation consultations, The Wire published Radha Kumar’s piece – “The Many Angles to Implementing Women’s Reservation in Politics.”
The article questions whether reservation is being used as a “peg” to expand the Lok Sabha to 816 seats, protect sitting male MPs and gerrymander constituencies. It warns of communal engineering, links the proposal to OBC and SC electoral anxieties, and urges opposition parties to resist “instrumentalisation.”
Translated plainly: The Wire’s 2026 position is “Why Now?” — the same outlet that in 2016 asked “Why Not Yet?”
The Wire Goes Haywire – on Women’s Bill
2016: “Why hasn’t it been passed yet?”
2023: “Not before 2029”
Now: “Why Now?”Same people. Same platform (@the_wire). Total U-turn.
When nothing happens: they complain.
When something happens: they panic.Not journalism. Just agenda… https://t.co/NwPHY4m8Hy pic.twitter.com/v2YI8V2j7A
— Media Expose (@MediaExpose_) April 6, 2026
The Pattern Is The Point
This is not incidental inconsistency. It is a revealing pattern:
- When BJP does nothing: The Wire demands action, frames inaction as anti-women betrayal.
- When BJP acts: The Wire questions the motive, timing, methodology and hidden agenda.
- When BJP moves to implement: The Wire warns of gerrymanders, seat expansions and constitutional dangers.
At every stage, the BJP is wrong. At every stage, The Wire’s conclusion is predetermined before the analysis begins. The reservation issue is not being evaluated on its merits – it is being used as a sustained instrument to attack the ruling government, regardless of what it actually does.
When nothing happens, The Wire complains. When something happens, The Wire panics. When implementation is being pushed, The Wire raises alarms. The only consistent thread across ten years is that the BJP must always occupy the wrong side of whatever argument The Wire chooses to run that week.
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