NEW DELHI: A day after Prime Minister Modi invoked the ‘delimitation’ issue, linking it with Rahul Gandhi’s campaign on the reservation, the Congress said the statement exposed the PM’s double standard on the issue.
At a recent election rally in Telangana, Modi demanded that the Congress clarify whether rights can be given in proportion to the population, and asserted that poor people have the first right over the country’s resources. Referring to the delimitation exercise due in 2026, Modi said that the southern states are set to lose 100 seats and Congress’ slogan will hurt the south.
“In the next delimitation, the number of Lok Sabha seats will be decided on the basis of population. If the population is less, the number of Lok Sabha seats will go down. As the southern states have achieved their target in population control, they will lose out heavily if the Congress’ new slogan of rights in proportion to population is implemented,” he said.
Speaking to this newspaper, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said that linking delimitation with reservation for OBCs is like comparing apples to oranges. “This is the usual Modi style to confuse facts. The PM is an expert on this. Gandhi raised the issue of reservation in jobs for OBCs. Modi doesn’t want to address the issue of OBC reservation and he doesn’t want to increase the share,” said Tagore.
Several opposition leaders from southern states have expressed concerns over the 2026 delimitation exercise as they are bound to lose representation in Lok Sabha. The Congress Working Committee that is meeting on October 9 may discuss the delimitation issue. After the Bihar caste survey was released last week, the Opposition and some NDA allies have been pushing for a caste census across the country.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has been consistently raising the slogan “Jitni aabadi, utna haq”, during his campaigns in the five poll-bound states. The Congress leader asserted that the PM’s remarks would not hurt the Congress in the upcoming elections. “Southern states are far ahead in terms of literacy than other states in India. They understand that Gandhi has spoken about delimitation and not about reservation,” Tagore said, adding the PM’s assertions are devoid of logic and facts.