NEW DELHI: A day after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday reversed his party’s earlier opposition to the rollout of the women’s reservation law from 2029 with an increase in the Lok Sabha’s strength by 50% and supported any fresh move to implement the two together, signalling the possibility of the govt reviving the Constitution amendment bill soon.Akali Dal had walked out of the BJP-led NDA government in September 2020, ending a 23-year-old alliance, due to the Centre’s passage of the three farm bills. DMK, another opponent being eyed by the government as a potential supporter of its renewed bid, snubbed governing TVK’s all-party meeting on delimitation. NDA is also banking on NCP(SP) to support the measure.
Government likely to bring back delimitation bill, but timing not clear yet
While Sukhbir Singh Badal’s party has only one MP — his wife Harsimrat is a Lok Sabha member — his announcement conveyed the government’s efforts to realign the numbers in its favour this time round, after a similar exercise was defeated in the last session by a joint opposition, which has since been considerably weakened.While DMK called it a diversionary tactic and wondered why CM Vijay did not summon the meeting on a pressing issue like the Mekedatu dam row, the party clearly did not want to be part of an exercise to frame delimitation as damaging to the interests of the state, with TVK ally Congress up in arms against it.Developments in governing BJP-led NDA and opposition camps are a clear indication that the government is bringing back the bill, which will need two-thirds support in Parliament. Its timing, however, remains uncertain, with a section of lawmakers being of the view that Parliament can be summoned after Independence Day to debate it.The ongoing monsoon session is scheduled to end on Aug 13, leaving the government with not much time to pursue its ambitious agenda that seeks to raise Lok Sabha’s maximum strength from the existing 550 to 850.
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Sukhbir demanded implementation of one-third reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. He said, “SAD also demanded a fair and equitable delimitation.” Incidentally, his wife had made a fiery speech against a similar bill last time, flaying the government for linking reservation for women to delimitation.The changed political environment and the fact that the government may write into the new bill all the assurances it has made verbally may have persuaded his party and DMK to consider a rethink.NCP MP Supriya Sule had earlier suggested that if the bill proposes a rise in Lok Sabha seats of every state by an equal proportion, it would not create any problem, though she had added that they will be part of opposition consultations before making a final decision.
