Supriya Sule says NCP (SP) yet to decide on delimitation Bill, rejects speculation

NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule on Wednesday, 15 July clarified that her party has not taken any official position on the proposed delimitation Bill, dismissing media reports suggesting it would support the legislation as speculative and based on unnamed sources.

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, the MP said the party had issued no official statement on the matter and was clarifying its position to avoid confusion among party workers and allies in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

She said the clarification came after consultations with NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar and senior leader Jayant Patil. Sule added that she had also spoken to Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal, Congress leader Satej Patil and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.

"The party has not received any written proposal from the Centre regarding the delimitation exercise. Without that, we cannot take a formal stand," Sule said, adding that the party would announce its position within 24 hours if such a proposal was received.

She said reports claiming the NCP (SP) had decided to support the proposed legislation had created unnecessary confusion.

Her remarks come days after senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram claimed that the BJP was attempting to secure the support of the NCP (SP) and the DMK for the proposed 131st Constitution Amendment Bill, which seeks to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha to 850 seats and carry out delimitation during the monsoon session of Parliament beginning on 20 July.

Recalling earlier discussions on the issue, Sule said parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju had invited her, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant and AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi for consultations on delimitation after Parliament unanimously passed the Women's Reservation Bill. Union home minister Amit Shah was also present at the meeting, she said.

According to Sule, several southern states had argued that delimitation based solely on population would unfairly penalise states that had successfully controlled population growth. Opposition leaders had, therefore, suggested exploring an alternative formula.

She said Rijiju had proposed increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats by 50 per cent across all states — from Kashmir to Kanyakumari — as a possible solution.

Under such a formula, Maharashtra's representation in the Lok Sabha would rise from 48 to 72 seats, Sule said. Reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the 33 per cent quota for women would then be applied to the expanded strength.

"If the legislation is based on a uniform 50 per cent increase in seats for every state, there would be little reason to oppose it," Sule said. However, she stressed that any decision on backing such a proposal would be taken only after discussions within the INDIA bloc.

She also said the Opposition, led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, had written to the Centre seeking a collective consultation on the proposal instead of separate meetings with individual parties.

Sule alleged that when the government later moved ahead with the proposed legislation, the draft no longer included the provision for a uniform 50 per cent increase in seats. She claimed Amit Shah had suggested briefly suspending House proceedings to incorporate such a provision, but the proposal never materialised and the Bill was not introduced in that form.

With PTI inputs