Jairam Ramesh corners Centre over 50% increase in Lok Sabha seats

Congress's Jairam Ramesh slammed the Centre's plan to increase Lok Sabha seats by 50%, calling it a 'deceptive' move that would be bulldozed. He warned it would disadvantage southern states by widening the representation gap with the north.

Ramesh Accuses Centre of 'Bulldozing' Bill

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday cornered Centre over delimitation exercise, asserting that government is proposing to "bulldoze" a legislation for sake of increasing Lok Sabha seats by 50 per cent.

In an 'X' post, Ramesh opined that the argument to increase 50 percent Lok Sabha seats is equitable and deceptive, adding that its proportions may not change for present but its deeper implications cannot be neglected. "The Modi Govt is proposing to bulldoze a Bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50%. The number of seats allocated to each state is also proposed to be increased by 50%. The argument that a 50% increase in seats across-the-board is equitable is deceptive. Proportions may not change for the present but there are deeper implications that cannot be wished away," he said.

'Disadvantage to Southern States'

The Congress MP further termed the delimitation exercise as a "disadvantage" to the southern states, adding that, "Any increase in the gap in the existing strengths of different states in the Lok Sabha will place South Indian states at a disadvantage. For instance, currently Uttar Pradesh has 80 seats and Tamil Nadu has 39. With the proposed Bill, UP's strength will zoom to 120 while Tamil Nadu will crawl up to at best 59. Similarly, Kerala will increase from 20 Lok Sabha seats to 30 seats, while Bihar will move from 40 to 60 seats. Overall, the southern states will gain 66 seats while the northern states will gain 200 seats."

He futher noted that PM Narendra Modi is unilaterally preparing a law which will affected smaller South, Northeast, and West. "Mr. Modi is unilaterally preparing a law which will disadvantage smaller states in the South, Northeast, and West. The Chief Minister of Telangana has already raised an alarm. Others may very well follow as this proposal becomes officially public," said Ramesh.

Delimitation and Women's Reservation

According to sources, the Centre has planned to take the 2011 census as the basis for delimitation and seat redistribution, in an attempt to implement the 2023's Nari Shakti Vandan Act for women's reservation in the Parliament.

Currently, the Lok Sabha has 543 seats. With a proposed 50 per cent increase, the number of seats will rise to 816, with 273 (about a third) reserved for women.

Delimitation is the process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in the country. The Delimitation Commissions have been constituted four times - in 1952, 1963, 1973, and 2002. The number of seats remained unchanged at 543 in 2002. India witnessed the last Lok Sabha expansion in 1973.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin also raised concerns over reports suggesting that women's representation in Parliament and State Assemblies may be implemented based on the 2011 Census. He called for "right to fair delimitation."

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