Delimitation is the process of redrawing constituencies for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies based on population.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured that the delimitation process, which has been a long flashpoint between the ruling government and the Opposition, will not be biased or unfair. "I give guarantee no injustice will be done to any state, from East to West, North to South," PM Modi said in Lok Sabha.
On Thursday, a special Parliament session kicked off to debate three bills that were introduced in the Lok Sabha. These bills are the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, aimed at tweaking the women's quota law, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill and the Delimitation Bill, to implement the proposed women's quota law in the Union Territories of Puducherry, Delhi, and Jammu and Kashmir.
The session began with a fiery 40-minute debate between the NDA and the Opposition, after which the latter insisted on the division of votes before the introduction of the Constitutional (131st Amendment) Bill. In the end, the bill was introduced with as many as 251 members supporting it and 185 MPs voting against it.
PM Modi also urged the Opposition MPs not to see the women's quota bill from a political lens and cautioned that, in the past, those who had opposed the concept of women's reservations, "the women of the country have not forgiven them".
Under the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, the Centre has proposed to increase the strength of Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats, with a total of 815 set aside for states and 35 for Union Territories. This will pave the way for the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill to implement the women's quota law.
The Opposition argues that the South’s share in Lok Sabha representation could drop from around 24% to 19%, while Hindi-speaking states may see an increase of nearly 60%.
PM dares Opposition on women's quotaPrime Minister Narendra Modi said India is set to take a “historic step" towards women’s empowerment as the special session of Parliament began, emphasizing that “the respect for our mothers and sisters is the respect for the nation." During the debate on the Women's Reservation Act, PM Modi said, "Since women's reservation came into discussion, those who opposed this in the past were not forgiven by the women of the country, and they ended up badly in the elections that followed." "Don’t be disillusioned that we are giving anything to the women of this country. This bill is their right. We are atoning for the sin that this bill was delayed for so long," he added. |
