New Delhi, April 5: The Congress launched a scathing attack on the Modi government on Sunday over its delimitation proposal related to the implementation of the women’s reservation law, saying it will benefit larger and populous states more and is nothing but a “weapon of mass distraction”.
The opposition party also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “hoodwinking” people by claiming that the strength of the southern states in the Lok Sabha will not go down under the proposed changes as the gap in the number of seats between the more populous states and others will increase.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, “The PM is up to his usual tricks of making misleading statements that are meant to deceive. He says South Indian states will not be hurt in any way if the strength of the Lok Sabha is increased by 50% and the number of seats of each state in the Lok Sabha is also increased by 50%.” “This is hoodwinking the people of the country in which the PM has unique expertise,” he said.
For example, the difference between Uttar Pradesh’s and Kerala’s seats in the Lok Sabha is now 60 and Modi’s proposal will increase it to 90, he said.
Similarly, the difference between Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will increase from 41 to at least 61, Ramesh said, adding that such examples can be multiplied.
It is not just south India but states like Punjab and Haryana and those in the northeast that will also see their relative influence decline, he argued.
Tagging Ramesh’s post, Congress MP Manish Tewari said Jairam Ramesh is absolutely prescient and the framing by PM Modi is absolutely erroneous.
The Chandigarh MP noted that states and Union territories like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi together have just 40 seats in the Lok Sabha, as opposed to Uttar Pradesh’s 80.
“This gap will only further increase” post delimitation, he said.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned the basis of the proposed women’s reservation, asserting that a fresh census must be completed before taking up the issue of reserving seats for women in Parliament and state assemblies.
Congress MP P Chidambaram said the proposal to convene Parliament from April 16-18 is “mischievous” and must be opposed.
He pointed out that polling in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal is scheduled later in April and 39 MPs of Tamil Nadu and 28 MPs of West Bengal are in the opposition benches in the Lok Sabha.
They will be fully engaged in their constituencies from April 16 to 18, Chidambaram said on X.
If critical Constitution amendment bills are brought for discussion and to vote on those dates, how will these 67 MPs in the Lok Sabha participate and vote, he asked. (PTI)
