'Bulldozer mentality of PM': Opposition slams delimitation, women’s quota bill

The plan to increase seats in Lok Sabha and Assemblies may run into rough weather in Parliament with the Opposition amplifying its objections about the proposal for delimitation and linking it to the early implementation of 33 per cent of women’s quota.

A final call on the strategy in Parliament, which will reconvene on April 16, will be taken at a meeting of Opposition parties called by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday afternoon, attended by top leaders.

Parties like Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, CPI(M), CPI and AAP have opposed the delimitation proposal while those like Samajwadi Party have questioned the implementation of women’s quota on the basis of Census 2011 and not the ongoing exercise.

As the Bill was circulated among MPs seeking to increase Lok Sabha seats’ upper limit to 850, Congress Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh said, “when the intent behind a Bill is mischievous and the content of it is devious, the extent of damage to parliamentary democracy is enormous.”

“These bills amount to a death warrant for federal India. It reflects a cunning strategy to reduce southern India to a political colony of the north. Even assuming the proposed Delimitation Commission ensures a pro-rata increase, it would still deliver a severe blow to federal balance. In politics, absolute numbers matter far more than mere ratio,” CPI(M)'s John Brittas said.

The Opposition is projecting the government move as pushing delimitation under the guise of women’s bill. It has also questioned the “sudden” move, saying the government had earlier rejected the Opposition demand for women’s quota implementation in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls itself.

The Bill, aimed at amending the Constitution, needs two-third majority and the government is short of votes to clear it and would need the Opposition support. However, the Bill does not propose quota-within-quota for OBC women, another sticking point.

While supporting the early implementation of 33 per cent women’s quota, most of the Opposition parties have objected to the reported proposal of increase in seats by 50 per cent. They argue that an increase in the strength of the Lok Sabha “must be politically – and not just arithmetically – equitable”.

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has made her party’s stand clear by calling the proposal "extremely dangerous" as well as an "assault" on the Constitution itself.

AAP has announced that it will support women’s quota implementation if it is done on the existing seats and would oppose the delimitation proposal. CPI(M) and CPI have also expressed opposition to the proposal.

Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged the delimitation is being implemented to divide her state into three while DMK’s supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in a video message have warned the Centre against the delimitation proposal.

The Opposition has been demanding an all-party meeting after the conclusion of the current round of Assembly elections on April 29. However, the government rejected it though it held talks with a few parties even as Congress, Trinamool and CPI(M) among others refused to engage, demanding an all-party meeting.