New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) The proposed move to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the Delimitation Bill has triggered a political debate, with Opposition leaders questioning the BJP’s intentions and its numbers in Parliament, while leaders from the ruling alliance defended the proposed exercise and its linkage with women’s reservation.
Union Minister Chirag Paswan said the government was seeking to bring delimitation and the Women’s Reservation Bill together to facilitate an increase in parliamentary representation and implement the reservation provision. He questioned whether Opposition parties would be comfortable with the changes if women’s reservation was implemented immediately.
Using Bihar as an example, Paswan said that if the state’s existing 40 Lok Sabha seats were increased by 50 per cent, it would gain 20 additional seats, taking its total to 60.
He said that under the proposed arrangement, one-third of the seats would be reserved for women and questioned whether political parties, particularly those with a larger number of male representatives, would readily accept such a change.
Paswan argued that the leadership of Opposition parties did not understand why the government wanted to bring delimitation and women’s reservation together.
“Especially the southern states have always had concerns that if delimitation is based on population, those states will somehow face a disadvantage. On record, regional parties from the South have stated multiple times that we are having to bear the loss for population control or the mindset of controlling the population,” Paswan added.
BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal, speaking to IANS, said delimitation was necessary in view of the country’s growing population and the increasing number of eligible voters.
“As the country’s population grows and more people become eligible voters, delimitation becomes necessary. Delimitation has been carried out periodically after a certain interval. It will provide more people across the country with an opportunity to participate in democracy,” he said.
“Whatever the Congress and other Opposition leaders say is merely their anti-national agenda, which cannot be accepted under any circumstances,” Khandelwal alleged.
APCC Vice-President Valiboyina Gurunadham, speaking on the Delimitation Bill to IANS, questioned the need to push the Women’s Reservation Bill, saying the legislation providing for 33 per cent reservation had already been passed in 2023 and was awaiting implementation by the Centre.
“As far as the Congress party is concerned, the Women’s Reservation Bill has already been passed in 2023, and it has to be implemented by the Government of India. But contrary to that, again they want to introduce the Bill by linking it to delimitation. As the Women’s Reservation Bill to the extent of 33 per cent has already passed; where is the need for the Parliament, or BJP government, or BJP political party to introduce the 33 per cent reservation to women by linking it to delimitation? So absolutely, this is nothing but bogus; as stated by the Congress party, it’s nothing but a fabricated falsehood,” he said.
Gurunadham also raised concerns over the proposed expansion of the Lok Sabha, saying the current strength of 543 members could increase by around 50 per cent to approximately 815.
He said the central issue was whether the increase in parliamentary seats would be based on the existing distribution of constituencies or population figures.
According to him, the BJP wanted to increase the strength of the House based on population. He claimed that political parties in southern India, including the DMK and parties in Telangana, had opposed the proposal.
Gurunadham also said the BJP was hopeful of securing the DMK’s support, given the latter’s differences with the Congress and other INDIA Bloc parties.
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Ashutosh Verma, however, claimed that the BJP had failed to muster the numbers required to push through the Delimitation Bill.
“The Delimitation Bill remains a major challenge for the BJP. The party tried to introduce the Bill during the Monsoon Session but lacked the required numbers. There were claims that the BJP had managed to break away Samajwadi Party MPs, but the party remained united, with every MP standing firm. The BJP has now run out of options, which is why it is not discussing a special session,” Verma said.
Congress leader Udit Raj accused the BJP of delaying women’s reservation, arguing that the Women’s Reservation Bill had been passed in 2023 and that the Congress had also demanded the implementation of reservation for women in 2024.
Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput accused the BJP of pursuing anti-democratic measures and questioned the timing of discussions about a special session, with the Winter Session approaching.
“The BJP is always engaged in anti-democratic pursuits. Only a few days remain before the Winter Session, and they are making such discussions because they don’t trust democracy,” Rajput said.
Aam Aadmi Party MP, Sanjay Singh said a two-thirds majority was required to pass the Delimitation Bill, which he claimed the BJP-led NDA did not have.
“A two-thirds majority is required to pass the Delimitation Bill, which the BJP and NDA do not have. As for the Women’s Reservation Bill, we have already passed it. Therefore, they are making false claims. If they genuinely intend to implement women’s reservation, they should do so based on the existing strength of the House. For the delimitation Bill, there is a right process which has to be followed, for which they don’t have enough votes,” Singh said.
CPI(M) MP V. Sivadasan alleged that the proposed delimitation exercise was aimed at helping the BJP retain political power.
“The government is planning to bring Delimitation to capture power. They know that the majority of the citizens are against them. The people of India will vote against BJP and RSS. They are forming the constituencies in Assam for their own benefit,” he said.
Meanwhile, JD(U) National General Secretary Shyam Rajak said the decision on whether to convene a special session rested with the government, adding that he had been informed that the proposed session was primarily intended to discuss the Women’s Reservation Bill.
“Whether the Delimitation Bill comes or not, it is all a matter within the government. The leader of the House in the Vidhan Sabha building and the committee in the House takes the decision on this. According to the information I have, a special session is being called on the Women’s Bill,” Rajak said.
He said there had been a long-standing demand for women’s reservation and expressed hope that the legislation would be passed.
“The special session is being called because people have been waiting for a long time. There has been a desire for a long time that the Women’s Reservation Bill should be passed and a lot of struggle for this has been going on for many years and now I am hopeful that the Women’s Reservation Bill will be passed,” he added.
–IANS
sud/rad