Congress expressed strong objection to the Central Government’s proposal to increase the Lok Sabha seats by 50 percent. The party said the move is against the interests of smaller and southern states, while north Indian states will get disproportionate benefits.
New Delhi: The matter of 50 percent increase in Lok Sabha seats proposed by the Central Government has intensified the political stir. Congress has strongly criticized this move, calling it unfair for South India and smaller states. The party says that if such a huge increase is made in the total number of Lok Sabha seats in the background of implementing women’s reservation, it will lead to regional imbalance and North Indian states will benefit more than other states.
Senior Congress leader and party general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday claimed on social media platform X that the Modi government is bringing a bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha. According to Ramesh, under this proposal the total seats of the Lok Sabha will be increased by 50 percent, which will have a direct impact on the seats allotted to each state. He said the move is not justified and is against the interests of small states in the South, West and North-East.
Mathematics of seats and regional imbalance
Ramesh said that at present there are 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and 39 in Tamil Nadu. If the proposed bill is implemented, the seats in Uttar Pradesh will increase to 120, while the maximum seats in Tamil Nadu will reach only 59. Similarly, 20 seats in Kerala will increase to 30, while seats in Bihar will increase from 40 to 60.
Congress argues that North Indian states will disproportionately benefit from this increase, while Southern states will benefit relatively less. Ramesh said that overall, southern states will gain 66 seats, while north Indian states will gain 200 seats. They say that this proposal will further increase regional imbalance and weaken the political power of small states.
Increase in seats in the name of women’s reservation
Congress alleges that this proposal is being presented in the background of implementing women’s reservation. Ramesh said that the claim of this increase is being shown as justified, but behind it are political calculations and the policy of giving more representation to North India. He said that the ratio may not change at the moment, but its long-term impact will be negative on the smaller states of the South and North-East.
The Congress leader asserted that Prime Minister Modi is preparing a one-sided bill, which ignores the interests of small states. They say that only the North Indian states will benefit from this, while the states in the South, West and North-East region will suffer losses in their existing political representation.
increased political turmoil
The central government’s proposal has given rise to controversy and criticism among political parties. Congress says that this step is against the basic principles of democracy, as the political power of small states will be weakened. The party clearly said that if this bill is passed, the representation of voters from South India and other small states will reduce and their voice will become weak in Parliament.
Jairam Ramesh termed it a unilateral policy of the Modi government and warned that if the bill was passed without extensive discussion, it would lead to democratic imbalance. He also said that such a proposal could increase political tension in the country and lead to regional imbalance.
Comments are closed.