Defeat of delimitation Bill exposes BJP's discomfort: Abhishek Banerjee

Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general-secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday said the fallout from the defeat of the delimitation Bill in the Lok Sabha has laid bare the BJP’s “discomfort” in full public view, and urged the NDA government to move immediately on implementing women’s reservation.

Banerjee, widely regarded as number two in the TMC hierarchy after his aunt and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, said the Constitution Amendment Bill proposing 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures from 2029, along with an increase in Lok Sabha seats to 816, was rejected after Opposition parties in the INDIA bloc raised concerns about fairness.

In a post on X, Banerjee said, “The fallout from the defeat of the Delimitation Bill in the Lok Sabha is exposing the BJP’s discomfort for all to see.”

He argued that the proposal to expand the Lok Sabha to 850 seats and conduct delimitation based on the 2011 Census triggered serious apprehensions over balance and equity in representation.

Stepping up his attack on the Centre, the TMC MP said, “The NDA government is clearly on borrowed time and the illusion of control is beginning to crumble in plain sight.”

The Bill secured 298 votes in support in the Lok Sabha, while 230 MPs voted against it. Of the 528 members present and voting, the Constitution amendment required 352 votes to obtain the mandated two-thirds majority.

On women’s reservation, Banerjee pointed out that the law guaranteeing 33 per cent quota for women had already been unanimously passed in September 2023 and came into force on Thursday, 16 April. “If the NDA government is serious, it should immediately bring forward the Bill to notify one-third of the seats. Do it now,” he said.

Banerjee further claimed that the TMC has gone beyond legislative intent by ensuring more than 41 per cent representation of women in Parliament.

The Bill also proposed a corresponding increase in the number of seats in state Assemblies and Union Territory legislatures to enable implementation of the 33 per cent quota for women.

Opposition parties have maintained that they are willing to support women’s reservation, provided its implementation is delinked from the contentious delimitation exercise.

With PTI inputs