Stalin warns of stir, Reddy appeals to PM

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like New Delhi: Chief ministers of two southern states on Tuesday rejected the government’s move to table three bills to provide 33% to women in Parliament and state legislatures, raise the cap of seats in the Lok Sabha to 850 and set up a delimitation commission, with the Congress and other opposition parties raised several key questions about the proposal, including its timing and intent. Stalin warns of stir, Reddy appeals to PMSome, including the Congress, raised concerns over the timing of the bills to be tabled in the three-day special sitting of Parliament beginning Thursday – even as assembly elections are underway. Others expressed reservations over the possibility that the 2011 Census might form the basis for the delimitation exercise. To be sure no party has officially spelt out its stand on the issue yet. Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of using women’s reservation as a “political tool” to secure a numerical advantage in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. “The BJP does nothing unless they know there is a political advantage,” Sibal stated. He argued that if the government were “genuinely concerned about women’s reservation,” it would grant 33% reservation within the existing 543 seats immediately rather than linking it to a contentious delimitation process. Sibal warned that using “pocket vetoes” to redraw constituency boundaries is a strategic move to “ensure that their declining graph doesn’t reach rock bottom”. In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, “When the intent behind a Bill is mischievous, and the content of it is devious, the extent of damage to parliamentary democracy is enormous.” Articulating the broad contours of the Congress’ position, party president Mallikarjun Kharge had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, urging him to convene an all-party meeting over the issue and alleging that the special session was called without taking the opposition into confidence. Party general secretary KC Venugopal questioned the “tearing hurry” in bringing the crucial legislations. “Under the garb of bringing forward women’s reservations, the BJP is looking to bulldoze a deeply flawed, unconstitutional and anti-federal delimitation exercise. What was the tearing hurry to introduce this with such little notice? When 2 major states are going into election, holding a special session for this shows the true devious intentions of this fascist regime,” he said on X. Constituents of the INDIA bloc are likely to hold a meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. People aware of the matter said even the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Trinamool Congress are likely to attend, despite the ongoing assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Telangana attacked the Centre over the proposed delimitation since a draft bill shared by the government did not guarantee preservation of existing seat proportions. TN chief minister MK Stalin threatened massive agitations that would bring the state to a standstill if anything was done harming the state or if the political power of northern states was disproportionately increased in delimitation. “We do not even know how this delimitation exercise is going to be carried out. No explanation has been provided so far regarding the proposed constitutional amendment,” Stalin said. “If Tamil Nadu is affected, we will make the entire nation take notice. Prime Minister, I repeat, this is the final warning issued to you from Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu will fight; Tamil Nadu will win.” Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has issued a formal appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and fellow Southern CMs to reject a purely population-based expansion of Lok Sabha seats. In an open letter sent Tuesday, Reddy warned that a “pro-rata” increase to 850 seats would penalise states for successful population control, proposing instead a “Hybrid Model” that rewards economic contribution and developmental performance. “The southern states of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry and Kerala, over the past several decades, have consciously adopted policies aimed at population stabilisation, improved public health, and higher human development outcomes. These efforts were undertaken in alignment with national priorities and have contributed significantly to India’s overall progress,” he said. Reddy proposed a “hybrid model” for increasing Lok Sabha seats, under which 50% of the additional seats are allocated on a pro rata basis and the remaining 50% based on Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and other performance criteria. Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas said the bills are a death warrant for federalism in India. “The bills being introduced in the name of implementing Women’s Reservation amount to a death warrant for federal India. The accompanying Delimitation Bill, presented as part of this exercise, would strip southern states — which have successfully implemented population control measures — of their rightful political power,” he said. Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, however, said there was an attempt to “mislead” the southern states that they will lose out in delimitation since they adhered to population control norms. “If you go through the entire provisions of the bill, every state, region and community has been taken care of… there is nothing to worry about. In the past some people tried to mislead that the southern states would lose out due to their successful family planning. In fact these southern states are fortunate that despite controlling population growth and having fewer people proportionally, they still gain,” he told reporters.