NEW DELHI: In a strong attack on the opposition on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that parties are opposing women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, as well as resisting any increase in the number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Replying to a debate in the LS on three bills aimed at amending the women’s quota law and establishing a delimitation commission, Shah alleged that the Congress had earlier deprived the country of delimitation when it was in power and continues to resist it now.
He pointed out that the Constitution mandates periodic delimitation, which includes provisions to increase SC and ST seats in proportion to their population growth. “Those opposing delimitation are also opposing the increase in SC and ST seats,” Shah said.
Shah rejected the opposition’s allegation that the constitutional amendment providing reservation for women in legislatures was intended to delay caste enumeration during the census. He stated that the Union Cabinet had already decided in 2025 to conduct caste enumeration alongside the census.
The home minister said the government is willing to bring an official amendment guaranteeing a 50% increase in LS seats across states if the opposition supports the women’s reservation bill. “The women’s reservation amendment bill will fall flat if the opposition does not vote in its favour. But women of the country are watching who the obstacle is,” he said.
On delimitation, Shah said the exercise would help rationalise voter distribution across constituencies, some of which currently have electorates as high as nearly 40 lakh. Addressing concerns about the timing of delimitation, he referred to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, which links implementation of women’s reservation to delimitation following the census expected after 2026. Shah said the freeze on seat numbers dates back to 1971 under Indira Gandhi’s government.
He also highlighted disparities in representation, noting that in some constituencies, one MP represents up to 45 lakh voters, while in others, only 6 lakh voters elect a representative.
Citing the five southern states, Shah said their combined strength in the LS is now 129. It stands at 23.76%. “After a 50% increase, it will rise from 129 to 195, which will rise to 23.87% in 816 seats,” Shah said. “The country should not be divided by this ‘north-south’ ‘east-west’ narrative,” said Shah.