• Source:JND
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Parliament Special Session: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking in the Lok Sabha on Friday, offered to bring an official amendment to the delimitation bill that would ensure a 50 per cent increase in seats for states, provided the Opposition agreed to pass the bill.

Replying to the debate on Women's Reservation and Delimitation Bills, Shah asserted that the government had nothing to hide and was ready to provide its proposal in writing. He noted that a formal amendment was ready and could be circulated among members once copied.

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He urged the opposition to clarify if their resistance was solely based on the demand for a 50 per cent increase in seats, adding, "If that is the issue, then halt the proceedings for an hour, and I will bring an official amendment to this bill."

Targeting the opposition, Shah said that while no party had openly opposed women's reservation, members of the INDIA bloc were effectively resisting it through 'ifs and buts'. He warned that delaying the bill beyond 2020 would block its implementation.

"No one has objected to the women's reservation. But, if we see closely, all members of the INDI alliance have opposed it by using ifs and buts," the Home Minister added.

He further argued that opposition to delimitation was, in effect, opposition to increasing seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

"Those opposing delimitation are actually opposing an increase in SC/ST seats," Shah said.

He assured the House that if delimitation was supported, the value of every vote would be equal across constituencies.

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Record Participation

Highlighting the record participation in the debate, Shah said that nearly 133 members spoke on the Constitution amendment Bill, of which 56 members were women.

"Nearly 133 Members spoke in the House on this important Constitution Amendment Bill, out of which 56 Members were women, which will prove to be a record in itself. I assure them that if they support us for delimitation, then the value of each vote will have equal value across constituencies," he said.

Addressing the implications of proposed changes, Shah said applying the reservation to the current 543 seats would result in 13 reserved seats for women in Tamil Nadu, with the remaining 26 seats left unreserved.

"If we implement women's reservation based on 543 seats, then 13 seats will get reserved for women, and 26 will remain open in Tamil Nadu. If we implement women's reservation based on the 2011 census, then the number of parliamentary seats will reduce by 6. But we are not doing so. We are increasing seats by 50 per cent for every state," the Home Minister said.


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