Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Journalism of Courage
Premium
Days after Constitution Amendment Bill defeat, Congress, BJP trade barbs
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said while the Congress had opposed delimitation, it was not against reservation for women.
Anurag Thakur at a press conference in Bengaluru on Sunday. (Special Arrangement)
The BJP and Congress Sunday sparred over the defeat of the Constitutional Amendment Bill, which clubbed delimitation with women’s reservation.
The BJP dispatched MP and former minister Anurag Thakur to the state to attack the Congress for ‘betraying’ the women of the country.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters at Ranebennur, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that while the Congress had opposed delimitation, it was not against reservation for women. The concern of Karnataka and other Southern states, he said, was the major increase in Lok Sabha seats in North India.
“The BJP has never demanded 33 per cent reservation for women. Only now are they playing politics over the issue,” he said. Responding to PM’s address, where he accused the Congress of being anti-women, Siddaramaiah said the speech was delivered with an eye on West Bengal and Tamil Nadu polls.
Deputy CM D K Shivakumar said that the defeat of the Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Parliament caused a loss of face for the BJP government. To a question, he said that the BJP had introduced the Bill knowing full well that it would be defeated.
Thakur, meanwhile, condemned the Congress and its allies for blocking the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. “By defeating this crucial legislation, the Opposition alliance has stalled 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies,” he said, adding that it was a betrayal of all women in the country.
Terming the concerns raised by Southern states as a “false narrative”, he said that the crisis was manufactured by the DMK and the Congress. Under the proposed 50 per cent formula, every Southern state would gain more seats than even the 2011 Census projection would have provided, he claimed.
Story continues below this ad
“Tamil Nadu’s current tally of 39 seats would increase to 59, which was 10 more than the 2011 Census projection, Keralam’s would increase from 20 to 30 seats, and Karnataka would move from 28 to 42. The combined representation of the Southern states would not have decreased. Rather, their total share in the Lok Sabha would have slightly increased from 23.76 per cent (129 of 543 seats) to 23.90 per cent (195 of 816 seats),” he said.
Advertisement
Loading Recommendations...
Advertisement
Live Blog