DMK, Congress deprived women of quota for narrow political ends, says Amit Shah in Erode

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday flayed the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress over the Opposition’s vote against a constitution amendment bill that sought to expand the Lok Sabha, saying they had deprived women of a quota in the legislature for their narrow political ends. Union home minister Amit Shah waves to a gathering during a roadshow ahead of Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, in Erode, Tamil Nadu (@AmitShah)“Congress and DMK have certainly deprived sisters and mothers across the country, in Tamil Nadu (of reservation) in Parliament and assemblies. There was a chance for 50 per cent (Lok Sabha) seat increase for Tamil Nadu. But they have conspired to reduce Tamil Nadu’s seats by insisting on their increase based on 2026 census,” Shah said during a roadshow in support of his party’s Modakurichi candidate in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district for the April 23 assembly polls, Shah said the BJP would keep at it and ensure justice for the people of Tamil Nadu, and the women of Tamil Nadu Shah’s remarks came days after the 131st constitution amendment bill – which sought to raise the Lok Sabha ceiling to 850 and implement 33% reservation for women in time for the 2029 polls – was defeated by a united Opposition that didn’t waver despite a dramatic last-minute offer by Shah to incorporate a 50% proportional rise for all states into the bill. The government had proposed to increase the overall seats in the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies by 50% and assured that the proportional representation of states in Parliament will not be changed. Since this assurance was not put in writing in the bills,it became a major bone of contention between the government and the Opposition, which accused the government of trying to use the women’s reservation as a ruse for carrying out delimitation by sidestepping the ongoing census and allowing the constituencies to be redrawn on the basis of the 2011 population count. Shah also hit out at the ruling DMK’s first family for “dynastic politics”, saying chief minister MK Stalin was completely focused on making his son Udhayanidhi the chief minister. “First Karunanidhi, then Stalin, and now his son. Such dynastic parties can do no good for Tamil Nadu’s democracy,” Shah said, asserting that Tamil Nadu had never benefited from such a family rule that continued generation after generation. Later, in a social media post, Shah shared a video of his roadshow and said, “Enthusiastic support for BJP in Tamil Nadu.”