‘Special session’ only to grab political mileage: Congress

The Congress on Friday claimed that the Government has called a “special session” for passing bills related to amending the women’s quota law and delimitation to “grab political mileage” in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu polls, which is a “gross violation” of the model code of conduct.

Asserting that the Government’s push for a rushed delimitation exercise would have “dangerous consequences”, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said, “We do not want any disturbance in the present differentials and relative strength”.He said the Government kept “sleeping” for 30 months after the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, and to take “double credit” in the election season.He said there has been no official communication or proposal from the Government’s side on delimitation.

“However, off the record, we got to know that there would be a proportionate increase in Lok Sabha seats,” Ramesh said at a press conference.He said the claim is that it would be proportional, but the reality is that smaller States and those in the South, Northeast, and West would suffer massively.With the proposed Bill, Uttar Pradesh’s strength will zoom to 120 while Kerala will crawl up to at best 30, Ramesh claimed.“So what we have heard unofficially this would be very dangerous for many States,” he said.

“The only objective of this special session is to grab political mileage to influence polls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Could it not have been called after 15 days?” Ramesh said.His remarks come after it emerged that the Budget session of Parliament will reconvene on April 16 after a brief recess to pass bills to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816 so that the women’s reservation law can be implemented at the earliest, in what is expected to be the latest flashpoint between the Government and the opposition amid the poll season.