Weapon of mass distraction: Congress slams Govt.’s delimitation proposal

The Congress launched a scathing attack on the Modi government on Sunday over its proposed restriction on the implementation of the women’s reservation law, saying it would benefit larger and populous states more and was nothing but a “weapon of mass distraction”.

The opposition party also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “surprised” people by claiming that the power of southern states in the Lok Sabha would not decrease under the proposed changes as the difference in the number of seats between the more populous states and others would increase.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said in a post on

“This is deceiving the people of the country in which the Prime Minister has unparalleled expertise,” he said.

For example, the difference in seats between Uttar Pradesh and Kerala in the Lok Sabha is currently 60 and Mr 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.

“Mr Modi is bulldozing a proposal that will benefit larger and populous states as their already large numbers will increase further,” the Congress leader said.

He argued that not only southern India, but also states such as Punjab and Haryana and states in the north-east would see their relative influence diminish.

“The country is facing a serious economic and foreign policy crisis. The only thing the Prime Minister is uncomfortable with is ensuring that the power of the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas is increased without meaningful consultations and widespread public debate. This is nothing but a Weapon of Mass Distraction (WMD),” Mr. Ramesh said.

Framing the topic

Tagging Mr. Ramesh’s post, Congress MP Manish Tewari said that Jairam Ramesh is definitely a visionary and PM Modi’s framework is absolutely flawed.

“The framing should be how much do South India, Western India, North East India and North West India stand to lose in terms of political weight when compared to the Indian heartland states in terms of the difference in number of Parliamentary seats between them,” Mr. Tewari said.

The Chandigarh MP noted that States and Union Territories like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi have only 40 seats in the Lok Sabha as against 80 seats of Uttar Pradesh.

“This difference will increase even more” after the limitation, he said.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned the basis of the proposed reservation for women and asserted that a fresh census should be completed before taking up the issue of reserving seats for women in Parliament and State Assemblies.

Parliament Session naughty during poll campaign: Chidambaram

Congress MP P. Chidambaram said the proposal to convene Parliament from April 16 to 18 was “naughty” and should be opposed.

He noted that voting in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal is scheduled for late April and 39 MPs from Tamil Nadu and 28 MPs from West Bengal are on the Opposition benches in the Lok Sabha.

Mr. Chidambaram said that they will be fully engaged in their constituency from April 16 to 18 in X.

If the critical Constitutional amendment bills are put for discussion and voting on these dates, how will these 67 MPs in the Lok Sabha participate and vote, he asked?

“I suspect the aim is to exclude these MPs,” he claimed.

“Since the drafts of the bills that the government proposes to submit to the Parliament on April 16-18 have not been announced yet, I cannot comment on the content of the bills. However, the speech made by the Prime Minister yesterday gives a clue as to what the draft laws may contain,” he said.

‘Reserve one-third of available seats in Lok Sabha for women’

“The proposal to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha from 548 (current strength is 543) to 816 is retroactive and will widen the gap between the more populous States and the Southern States that have stabilized their populations,” Mr. Chidambaram said.

He said reservation of one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha could be achieved by reserving one-third of the existing number of seats.

He argued that an 816-member Lok Sabha would become a large and cumbersome meeting where each member would have fewer opportunities and less time to speak.

Mr. Chidambaram said what can an MP say who gets an opportunity to speak once every three months and for more than a few minutes?

‘What is the tear rush?’

He also asked what was the exhausting rush to convene the parliament on 16 April and why the parliament could not convene on 29 April.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the question was never about whether the number of Lok Sabha seats in the southern states will increase, but how they increase and who will benefit disproportionately.

“Under the proposed expansion, while every state may see an increase, the rate and scale of the increase is clearly in favor of the BJP-dominated states. Uttar Pradesh will increase its seat count from 80 to 120 (+40), Maharashtra from 48 to 72 (+24), Bihar from 40 to 60 (+20), Madhya Pradesh from 29 to 43-44 (+14-15), Rajasthan from 29 to 43-44 (+14-15). is expected to increase from 29 to 43-44 (+14-15) and from 25 to 37-38 (+12-13) and Gujarat from 26 to 39 (+13).

“In contrast, southern states are seeing smaller gains. Karnataka from 28 to 42 (+14), Tamil Nadu from 39 to 58-59 (+20), Andhra Pradesh from 25 to 37-38 (+12-13), Telangana from 17 to 25-26 (+8-9) and Kerala from 20 to 30 (+10),” he said. said Siddaramaiah.

‘I’m telling the numbers’

“The numbers show this. While the five southern states barely won 63-66 additional seats in total, these seven BJP-dominated states alone win around 128-131 seats – almost double,” he said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah added that such a structural change cannot be implemented without consultations or public debate.

Opposition leaders’ remarks came a day after Prime Minister Modi said that the Budget session of Parliament has been extended by three days so that the 2023 law on providing 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies can be implemented from 2029.

The session will reconvene on April 16 after a brief adjournment to pass the bill to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816 so that the women’s reservation law can be implemented at the earliest.

Addressing the NDA election rally in Kerala on Saturday, Mr Modi said the government will provide a legal stamp that no state, be it Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa or Telangana, will see a reduction in Lok Sabha seats during the April 16-18 Parliament session.