BJP's Tejasvi Surya Slams Opposition on Delimitation, Seeks More Parliament Sittings

Previously, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill and the Delimitation Bill 2026 in the Lok Sabha, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah proposed to introduce the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

Addressing the House, Surya said, "Women who have been waiting for 40 years to participate in the national policy making process will finally get their share."

Expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the introduction of the three Bills, the BJP MP accused the Opposition of delaying the Women's Reservation Bill several times.

Particularly targeting the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Surya said, "When the Bill was introduced in the previous government's tenure, leaders from the Samajwadi Party and RJD tore the Bill in the House and had said that 'the Bill will only pass over my dead body'. The country remembers this kind of emphatic Opposition that they gave to the Women's Reservation Bill at that time."

The BJP MP accused the Opposition of coming up with a new "pretext" to oppose the application of the Women's Reservation Bill.

"The new pretext that they (Opposition parties) have come up with is this vacuous and baseless opposition to the delimitation exercise."

Surya said, "When the 'Nari Shakti Adhiniyam' was unanimously passed in 2023, all parties agreed that the Women's Reservation Bill will be applicable after the Census and the Delimitation exercise."

The BJP MP also accused the Opposition of taking a "U-turn".

"They (opposition parties) are now opposing the fast tracking of the Bill in the 2029 general elections and saying we want to oppose this because we don't want the Delimitation exercise to take place," he said.

About the Opposition's concern that the proposed Delimitation Bill will harm the South Indian and smaller states, Surya noted, "It is a systematic misleading and propaganda by certain members of the Opposition in the most irresponsible, anarchic fashion to mislead people in South India."

Citing his Lok Sabha constituency of Bengaluru South, the BJP MP asserted, "Even if there was an ounce of injustice to South India in the proposals that the Union government has made, I would have been the first to oppose."

Assuring South India and the smaller states, Surya said, "We could not have got a better deal than this."

Replying to Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's charge that the Delimitation Bill is being brought through the backdoor, the BJP MP said, "The delimitation is not a backdoor exercise but a constitutional mandate of Article 81 and 82."

Defending the proposed Delimitation Bill, Surya noted, "There are certain constituencies in the country where a single MP is representing close to 38 lakh people, which is around the population of a small nation in Europe. How is this democratic and accountable governance?"

He highlighted that delimitation is not a mere democratic imperative but "it is also a constitutional duty".

Surya urged that since it has been proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 850, "the number of sittings of the House should also be increased to at least half times more to what we are now doing."

- IANS