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Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 40-minute-long speech didn't address the Opposition's concern on the delimitation bill.
In a post on X, Jairam Ramesh also alleged that the government did not take the opposition into confidence over the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill and rejected multiple calls from the opposition for an all-party meeting. "Uncharacteristically, the non-grihasthi Prime Minister delivered only a 40-minute speech in the Lok Sabha today. Characteristically, he addressed every matter other than the key issue that is actually at stake in the special session of the Parliament - delimitation. He didn't address a single concern raised around it," Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X. "The PM repeatedly called for bipartisanship and the unanimous passage of these bills. Unfortunately, his government has done anything but inspire bipartisan confidence. The Prime Minister claimed that the Government has met with every party on this issue. The truth is that it has rejected the repeated calls by the Leader of Opposition to have an all-party meeting after the conclusion of the election campaign in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal on 29th April," he added. https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/2044726554702561325 He also alleged that the government has not consulted with the states and refused to reveal details of the delimitation process. "The Government has not formally or informally consulted a single State Government, even as it proceeds to undertake delimitation at both the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assembly level. The Government has refused to commit in writing in the law any details on how the delimitation will proceed and has instead introduced bills that threaten to drastically rewrite the composition of the Lok Sabha," he said. However, during the address, PM Modi assured that the Delimitation Bill, 2026, to increase the number of seats in Lok Sabha to accommodate women's reservation, will not "discriminate against anyone". "I want to say responsibly today that this will not discriminate against anyone. This decision process will not be unfair to anyone. The government that was in power earlier, the delimitation of the seats, and the ratio that has been in place since then, will remain unchanged, and the ratio will remain the same," PM Modi said The Delimitation Bill, 2026, along with the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday after the Opposition pressed for a division against the move to introduce three Bills, instead of a voice vote. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla initiated the division to move to introduce the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026. (ANI)
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