Rahul Gandhi warns TMC over possible absence of MPs during delimitation debate

New Delhi: Possible absence of some of the Trinamool Congress MPs due to West Bengal polls campaign when Parliament passes a Bill on delimitation attracted criticism at a meeting of Opposition, with top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi warning that it will be seen as help as the ruling BJP.

Sources said the issue came up for discussion during the meeting chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after Trinamool representative Sagarika Ghose told the leaders that all party MPs may not be present in Parliament as they will be busy in campaigning when the Bills are taken up.

Parliament is reconvening on Thursday to pass a bill that seeks to operationalise 33 per cent women’s quota after increasing Lok Sabha seats from 550 to 850 and redistribute it among states on the basis of Census 2011. The Opposition has decided to vote against the Bill.

As soon as Ghose made the remarks, sources said Rahul intervened and said there is a need to ensure that all Opposition MPs are here and warned that if Trinamool MPs are absent, it will be seen as helping the government. Ghose responded saying she was conveying the position to the leaders.

He then urged Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to speak to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to impress upon her to ensure that all her party MPs fly to Delhi to attend Parliament.

At the meeting, sources said, DMK’s TR Baalu said all party MPs are coming despite intense campaigning in Tamil Nadu and asked why Trinamool MPs could not come. Some Kerala leaders referred to their MPs coming to Parliament in the midst of a campaign to oppose the FCRA (Amendment) Bill.

AAP's Sanjay Singh also argued for all parties ensuring MPs' attendance mandatory while insisting that it is an issue bigger than elections and if the BJP government continues to undermine democracy, elections themselves will lose their meaning.

Incidentally, a group of Trinamool MPs, including Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad, reached Delhi on Wednesday. “We are doing all that it takes to defeat the stunt being presented as a Bill in the Lok Sabha,” Trinamool Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien posted on ‘X’ later.

At the meeting, sources said, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah warned leaders, claiming that delimitation was done in such a manner in the Jammu region that none other than the BJP can win. He told them that they cannot be happy about the increase in seats, as BJP will benefit.

CPI(ML)L’s Dipankar Bhattacharya said one should see the increase in the number of seats in union territories from 20 to 35 and it could mean that it has plans to constitute more UTs. He said it could do such things dividing Bihar or Bengal, turning Hyderabad or Mumbai into a union territory.

Independent MP Kapil Sibal made a presentation on the consequences of changes in the powers granted to Parliament on deciding on delimitation while Shiv Sena leaders cautioned that the BJP may try to set a narrative that the Opposition is “anti-women” and that it should be countered.

JMM supremo and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren spoke about the need for delinking women’s quota and delimitation. RSP’s NK Premachandran said Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s remarks that south India is being isolated is coming true and that southern states are penalised for their success in family planning.

Premachandran flagged concerns over the change in the Constitution empowering the Parliament to decide on which Census to be taken up for delimitation through a simple majority instead of a Constitutional provision. He told the meeting that he himself has started feeling alienated with the actions of the current dispensation, source said.