Delimitation row: Congress to take a calibrated approach to raise issue

News Delhi: Congress is headed to question the proposed delimitation formula of 50 per cent rise in Lok Sabha and Assembly seats arguing that it will negatively impact smaller states as well but will not rush to a decision on how to tackle it in Parliament, as it wants to "evolve a common concrete strategy" at a meeting of top Opposition leaders on April 15.

The party, which maintains that there is no official proposal in front of them on delimitation except for media reports, wants to delink the proposal for delimitation with the one on early implementation of 33 per cent quota for women in Lok Sabha and Assemblies. It also questioned how the government arrived at the quantum of 50 per cent increase in seats and not more or less.

Senior leaders in the Congress Working Committee deliberated on the issue at a meeting chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah, A Revanth Reddy and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu among others.

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Setting the tone, Kharge said in his initial remarks at the meeting that the proposal to increase 50 per cent seats will have "serious implications" for India's electoral system and accused the ruling BJP of rushing through bills to "gain political advantage" in the Tamil Nadu and West Bengal Assembly polls. He said the session comes at a time MPs are busy with elections in their states.

At the meeting, leaders were critical of the government's sudden change of mind on the implementation of 33 per cent quota, saying it had earlier discarded the Opposition view for rolling it out in 2024 Lok Sabha polls. They maintained that 33 per cent quota is "not the issue but delimitation is", as the hurry to implement it with Census 2011 as its base raised queries about the government's commitment to the Caste Census.

General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh told a press conference after the two-and-half-hour meeting that Kharge will be calling a meeting of top Opposition leaders to decide on how to deal with the proposals on April 15, a day before Parliament reconvenes to take up the Bills. He said it was not just southern states alone, smaller ones in north and north-east will also suffer.

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He said not just bigger states like Karnataka and Telangana but smaller states like Himachal Pradesh have raised concerns over the 50 per cent proposal, as it would adversely impact whatever political heft it has at present. "The way the delimitation is being proposed, it is wrong, unconstitutional, illegal and carried out arbitrarily," he said.

"How have you chosen 50 per cent? Why could it not be 25 per cent or 30 per cent? We do not know the rationale," he said, adding there has been no consultation with states and parties and recalled that the government had rejected their demand for an all-party meeting after April 29.

"No heavens will fall if we wait and call an all-party meeting after the polls conclude. Then we can bring the Bills in the Monsoon Session. This is an issue which is serious and has far-reaching implications. The Prime Minister is repeating the 'mahila' (woman) narrative," he said.