They also questioned how the government could have brought a bill on Thursday afternoon to amend the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act when the latter was notified only on Thursday late night.
While Kanimozhi of the DMK dubbed the bill “anti-Tamil Nadu” and “anti-south”, as well as an attempt at “electoral escape” by the Centre, Shashi Tharoor of the Congress likened the delimitation formula in the bill to “political demonetisation”, questioning the functional viability of increasing Lok Sabha seats beyond 800. Kalyan Banerjee of the All India Trinamool Congress accused the government of changing the goalpost on women’s reservation issue by pushing with its delimitation formula.
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Refusing to buy the government’s assurance that all states would have a uniform 50% increase in seats, Kanimozhi argued the clauses in the proposed delimitation bill mentioned the size of the population as criteria for delimitation of states. “I ask the home minister; why can’t you give reservation for women by simply delinking the reservation from delimitation. Why can’t you give a reservation for the existing number of seats?… This bill looks like a prelude and facilitator to your future political goals. This balance is ambiguous, misleading and serves no real purpose,” she said.
Rebutting the PM’s taunt at DMK members wearing black dresses, she said black was the colour of goddesses Kali who fought evil forces and that the colour was a symbol of protest of Dravidian ideologue Periyar. “The seven crore people of Tamil Nadu will stand up and fight against this delimitation ploy, which is against the interests of Tamil Nadu and other southern states,” she said.
Tharoor urged the government not to make a demonetisation-like “mistake” with delimitation. “Delimitation will turn out to be political demonetisation. Don’t do it,” he said. Also Read | Amit Shah says Opposition against women’s reservation, not its implementation
The Congress MP questioned the political and moral correctness of the delimitation proposal. “The prime minister says the government has bought nari shakti a gift of justice, but he wrapped it in barbed wire… Why must we entangle a moral imperative with a demographic minefield?” he said. “Delimitation is not a mere bureaucratic rearranging of maps, but it is a profound shift in political power that is intended. Linking women’s reservation to it effectively holds the aspiration of the Indian women hostage to one of the most contentious political exercises in our history. Such an exercise carries the risk that it can strain the very fabric of our federalism.”
Kalyan Banerjee alleged the PM was attempting to shift the goalpost with the delimitation proposal in the bill. “He is changing the rules of the game upon realising that he might lose the next election. Our PM has a great quality. The quality is the moment he understands that in the next election he is going to lose, he changes the rules of the game,” he said.
Banerjee questioned BJP’s commitment to women’s reservation, arguing that the ruling party has much less proportionate representation of women in Parliament than Trinamool Congress. He also asked the ruling side why it couldn’t ensure women’s reservation for half of the Cabinet posts, including the prime minister’s.
