India, March 25 -- Just as MK Stalin, the chief minister (CM) of Tamil Nadu, organised a conclave of political leaders to discuss the potential impact of delimitation on south Indian states, Karnataka's deputy CM DK Shivakumar has donned another hat of worry. Speaking to the three women legislators in the state assembly, he asked them to prepare and train a cohort of women to take their place in the legislatures and Parliament, should reservations for women become a reality.

This could just be the shrewd calculations of a man who has indeed rebuilt the Congress party in Karnataka and steered it to victory when it was out of power. But there is a delicious irony to his concern. With just 1% of women in the current legislature, Karnataka i...