TMC's Derek O'Brien calls delimitation a 'devious' agenda
Trinamool Congress accuses Modi govt of using women's reservation bill as cover for delimitation ahead of Parliament's special three-day sitting from April 16-18
New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) The government is executing a "devious plot" to usher in delimitation under the cover of women's reservation, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien charged on Wednesday.
His remarks come a day before the three-day special sitting of Parliament during which the women's quota and delimitation bills will be taken up.
In a post on X, the TMC Rajya Sabha leader also shared an old video of party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee highlighting her long-standing demand for women quota.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, he charged that the government is using women's reservation as a pretext.
"Delimitation is the devious agenda. Women, their excuse," he said, adding the ruling dispensation has "never cared a fig about women." "Mock the Constitution, mock Parliament and mock the women of this great nation," he said.
Referring to Banerjee's speech in Lok Sabha nearly three decades ago, O'Brien quoted her as saying, "Where is the prestige of women in this country that we can't introduce the Women's Reservation Bill? Chair should tell us specific date, information, timeframe when this Bill is going to come." The TMC has argued that while it has consistently supported women's reservation, the current approach raises concerns over the linkage with delimitation, which opposition parties fear could alter the balance of political representation.
The Budget session of Parliament has been extended, and a special three-day sitting of the House has been convened from April 16 to 18, during which amendments to the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', more commonly known as the Women's Reservation Act, will be brought for its implementation in 2029.
The number of Lok Sabha seats will be increased to up to 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise to be carried out based on the last published census.
According to the draft Constitution amendment bill, which will be introduced in the upcoming special sitting of Parliament, seats would also be increased in the state and Union Territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women. PTI