In a scathing attack on the Centre over the proposed amendment to the women's quota law in Parliament, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged that the BJP-led NDA government was using it as a cover to push the Delimitation Bill, which she claimed could "break the country into pieces".
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) will fight this Central government's move at every step, she said at her party's poll rally in Cooch Behar.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to tweak the women's quota law, along with the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, to implement the proposed amended women's quota law in the Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
According to the Constitution amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
Opposing the Centre's move, Banerjee alleged that "the BJP brought the Delimitation Bill while keeping the women's reservation bill at the front".
"The BJP is trying to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to nearly 850 through the Delimitation Bill. It will break the country into pieces," the TMC supremo said.
Accusing the Central government of resorting to "illegality" in introducing the bills, Banerjee said, "As a former MP, I know that without a two-thirds majority, a Constitution Amendment bill cannot be passed."
The TMC chief informed the gathering at the Cooch Behar rally that she has been informed by her MPs that an attempt was being made to pass the Bills with a simple majority.
Maintaining that her party already has 37 per cent women MPs, she asked the BJP to emulate this and ensure its women candidates win this state assembly election.
"After winning in Bengal, we will bring down their government in Delhi," the TMC chief asserted.
Banerjee alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not speak the truth about the development of north Bengal at a BJP rally last week.
"The prime minister said nothing was done for the development of north Bengal.
But we spent Rs 1.72 lakh crore on the development of the region," Banerjee said and asked Modi to cross-check data before making such remarks.
Seeking to remind people of the firing by central forces during the 2021 assembly elections at Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district that claimed four lives during a clash on poll day there, Banerjee said she had rushed to the aid of the affected people.
Stating that she was "fighting the BJP's might alone", the TMC chief accused the saffron party of misusing central agencies.
"But ballots and not bullets work in a democracy," Banerjee said.
Alleging that CAA was being introduced under the garb of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, she claimed that the legitimate residents of Bengal were being branded as "infiltrators".
Over 90 lakh names have been deleted from the voter list during the SIR exercise in West Bengal.
Claiming that migrant workers from Bengal are taken in by other states owing to their skills and not as a charity, the TMC chief said that 1.5 crore people from other states work in Bengal, "but we do not commit any atrocity against them".
Addressing the rally, Banerjee said she wants to ask Prime Minister Modi three questions.
"Before coming to power, you promised jobs to two crore people. Have you given jobs to even one person in the last 12 years? Has anyone got the promised Rs 15 lakh in their bank accounts? Could you recover any black money as was envisaged during the demonetisation of high-value notes in 2016?" she posed.
Banerjee claimed that as the railway minister, she had done a lot of development work and introduced new lines in north Bengal.
Claiming that in 12 years, the BJP government at the Centre should have provided 24 crore jobs, the TMC chief alleged that the Centre has sold off central PSUs in the coal, telecom and civil aviation sectors.
Banerjee alleged that TMC party offices and its candidates' residences were being raided for "political vendetta".
"Raids on my plane are being planned, and my security officers are also being raided," the chief minister claimed and accused the BJP of misusing central agencies instead of fighting the TMC politically.
(With inputs from PTI)
