Tharoor’s attack on delimitation, states failing in population control are getting political reward

Tezzbuzz Desk- In the special session of Parliament, heated debate continued for the second consecutive day regarding the Women’s Reservation and Delimitation Bill. During this, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor raised serious questions on the intentions of the government and the delimitation process.

During the discussion in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor said that it is not appropriate to link an important issue like 33 percent reservation for women with delimitation. He alleged that through this process, political benefits can be given to those states which are lagging behind in population control. According to him, this would be like giving a “reward” to those states.

Tharoor accused the government of being hasty and gave the example of demonetisation. He said that just as the decision was taken without adequate preparation at the time of demonetization, similarly, haste is being shown regarding delimitation also. He even termed it “political demonetisation”.

He also said that the process of delimitation should be taken forward with seriousness and detailed discussion, as it could have far-reaching implications. According to Tharoor, three major balancing issues come to the fore in this process—the balance between small and large states, the difference between successful and unsuccessful states in population control, and the balance between economically strong states and those dependent on the Centre.

Apart from this, Tharoor also termed Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement related to 50 per cent reservation as “risky” and said that it is not a legislative promise. He also criticized the proposal to increase the Lok Sabha seats to 850 and warned that this could impact the functioning of Parliament and create an imbalance between the two houses.

On the other hand, DMK MP Kanimozhi also raised questions on the decision of the Central Government. He said that notifying this important bill when this important bill was under discussion in Parliament shows that the government is not respecting the process of Parliament.

Overall, the political conflict in Parliament regarding women’s reservation and delimitation has intensified. While on one hand the government is calling it a historic step, on the other hand the opposition is raising serious questions on various aspects of it. There may be more heated debate on this issue in the coming days.