New Delhi (TIP): The government on Thursday, April 16, attempted to convince the Opposition that the proposal to increase the Lok Sabha’s strength and fast-track 33% reservation for women would involve a proportional 50% rise in each state’s seats, thereby not hurting southern states apprehensive of an erosion in their relative standing in Parliament.
On the first day of the discussion on a constitution amendment bill and two delimitation bills in the Lower House, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal told the Opposition that the proportion of each state’s seat-share will not be disturbed, Shah even read out a table to show that southern states will not be disadvantaged if the strength of the Lok Sabha is increased from 543 to 816.
But the Opposition remained unconvinced, pointing out that the government’s assurances were verbal and not mentioned in the text of the bills. They also raised questions about the Centre’s intent on the caste census, the timing of the special sitting – in the middle of the election campaign in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal later this month – and asked why women’s reservation couldn’t be implemented with the current strength of the Lok Sabha.
“A completely false narrative is being spun that these three bills will reduce the strength of the southern states in the Parliament. Such fears are unfounded,” Shah said, adding that the House’s strength would go up from 543 to 816 and all states would see their seats rise in the same proportion.
“If we consider the entire narrative about the South, currently, 129 MPs from these states sit in the House out of 543 seats, which is approximately 23.76%. In the new House, 195 MPs will represent these states, and their share will be 23.97%,” the minister added.
Modi said that the process will not discriminate against anyone. “Whatever delimitation happened in the past under previous governments, whatever ratios have been followed since then, there will be no change in those ratios, and any increase will also be in the same proportion. If the word “guarantee” is needed, I use the word guarantee. If you want the word “promise,” I use the word promise. If there is a good word in Tamil, I am ready to use that too, because when the intent is clear, then we do not need to play with words,” he added.
Meghwal called the government’s proposal a simple formula that will ensure no states are deprived. “Seats of all states will be increased by 50%. Total Lok Sabha seats would be 815. 272 seats reserved for women,” he added.
But the Opposition refused to take the government at its word. “The Prime Minister can’t be trusted. As long as the caste enumeration doesn’t happen, all sections of the society will not get proper representation. This government wants to move ahead with the 2011 census because it doesn’t have an OBC population count,” Congress MP Priyanka GandhI Vadra said.
The 131st Constitution Amendment Bill – which raises the ceiling of seats in the Lok Sabha to 850 and implements 33% reservation for women in time for the 2029 polls—requires a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting to pass in each House. The delimitation bill and the Union Territories bill – the first mandates delimitation on the basis of the latest available census, effectively the 2011 one, and the second implements the changes in UTs – requires a simple majority to pass. There is no mention of a fixed proportion or a freeze in the relative strength of the states in any of the three bills.
The Opposition has the numbers to thwart the government’s move in the Lok Sabha but the key lies with large non-Congress parties such as the Samajwadi Party, the Trinamool Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. In his intervention, Shah read out numbers to make his case that no state will lose out on representation. Source: HT
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