'Southern states will not lose seat share': PM Narendra Modi assures in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: Strongly defending the Bills for early implementation of women's quota and constitutional amendment to raise the number of Lok Sabha seats, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday assured Parliament that the legislation will not alter the proportional representation of states in the Lower House.

Intervening in the debate in Lok Sabha on the three bills, Modi said the proposed increase in seats will be carried out by strictly adhering to "demographic proportions established during previous governments" for delimitation.

The Lok Sabha will vote on the Bills on Friday. The Opposition, which was vowed to vote against the legislation, called the government's move an "open attack" on Indian democracy.

Backing PM’s call for political consensus for the passage of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill and two linked delimitation Bills introduced in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah, in a short intervention, said by doing a "practical interpretation" it can be shown no one stands to lose as the number of seats is each state will go up by 50%.

"In a House of 543, the state of Karnataka currently has 28 seats, which means 5.15% of the MPs in this House come from Karnataka. After this Bill is passed and the Constitution is amended, Karnataka’s number will increase from 28 to 42, and its percentage in a Lok Sabha of 816 members will be 5.14%," Shah explained.

The strength of all the southern MPs put together would increase from 129 or 23.76% of the current strength of the LS to 195 or 23.76% when the total number of seats in the House are increased to 816 by adding 50% seats, Shah added.

All elections till 2029, the home minister said, will be held as per the existing strengths of the state legislatures. Shah further told the LS that he will give more details while replying to the debate on Friday before the Bills are taken up for voting.

Shah rejected the allegation of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi that the objective of the exercise is to gerrymandering constituencies ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier in the day, the Opposition demanded a division on the introduction of the Bills by Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal, indicating that they had closed ranks to defeat the Bill that requires a two-thirds majority of those present and voting in the House.

While Shah spoke on the specifics of seat allocation, Modi’s intervention was more political as the Prime Minister sought to alley apprehensions among the southern and small states who fear that the delimitation of LS constituencies based on 2011 census would shrink their representation in the federal polity.

"I want to say with great responsibility that this decision-making process will not discriminate against anyone. The delimitation carried out in the past under previous governments will remain unchanged in its proportions, and any increase will also be in the same proportion," Modi said. 

"Those who opposed granting women this right have not been forgiven by the women of this country. They have suffered the consequences," Modi said in a message to the  Opposition, adding that he is willing to give a "blank cheque" to those wanting to take credit for the passage of the Bill.

To counter heartland parties like Akhilesh Yadav’s SP that have been demanding sub-quote for OBCs in the women’s reservation, Modi, while acknowledging his own roots in an "extremely backward community", emphasised that it his duty to take every section of society along.

What is the significance of Oppn’s 185 votes?

The 185 votes the Opposition garnered in the Lok Sabha while objecting to the introduction of a Constitution amendment Bill on delimitation and implementation of 33% women’s quota appear to have sealed its fate when they come up for passage on Friday afternoon. The government managed enough numbers — 251 votes — for its introduction as it only requires a simple majority at the introduction stage while a two-thirds majority is required for its passage. With a Constitution amendment Bill requiring 360 votes for its passage if all 540 MPs are present and voting the Opposition crossed the threshold of 181 votes needed to ensure that it won't go through.