HYDERABAD: Union Minister for Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy on Saturday said that the Congress and other opposition parties blocking the delimitation bill and amendments linked to the women’s reservation bill was “unfortunate” and a “historic mistake”.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, he said that the Congress would be remembered as “anti-women”. Kishan said the party had taken contradictory positions, first citing injustice to southern states and later alleging a conspiracy to increase seats.
He said the Union government had proposed a 50% increase in seats, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had explained the plan through newspapers and at an all-party meeting in the Lok Sabha. Despite this, Congress and its allies blocked both bills, Kishan stated.
He claimed the Congress and its allies had stalled the women’s reservation bill seven times since 1996, during governments led by HD Deve Gowda, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and later under Manmohan Singh. He alleged disruptions in Parliament, including tearing of bill copies, and said parties such as the Samajwadi Party and RJD had earlier stalled the measure.
Referring to meetings held in Chennai, he said opposition parties had earlier claimed injustice to southern states but were now making “baseless allegations”. He accused them of denying a “golden opportunity” for southern development due to political opposition to Modi and the BJP, and demanded an apology.
He also alleged that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao did not support measures beneficial to Telangana.
Questioning the Congress’ record, he asked whether it had made a woman or a backward class leader chief minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh or Telangana, and dismissed remarks by Revanth on BJP leadership.
“Delimitation would have increased Lok Sabha seats: Telangana from 17 to 26, Andhra Pradesh from 25 to 38, Karnataka from 28 to 42, and Tamil Nadu from 39 to 59,” Kishan said, adding that parties such as the DMK opposed the move without offering alternatives.