‘We will not allow north-south divide’: Amit Shah counters opposition on delimitation | India News
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Dr Amit Shah Friday hit out at the opposition for criticizing the Women’s Reservation Bill and the proposed restrictions, accusing it of pushing a “North-South divide narrative”.Speaking in the Lok Sabha before voting on the bill, Shah sought to garner support and emphasized that the delimitation would ensure fair and equal representation across states.“Let me make this clear again: the southern states have exactly the same right in this House as the northern states. In fact, even a small union territory like Lakshadweep has the same right. Uttar PradeshGujarat and Bihar,” he said.Addressing concerns over a “North-South divide”, Shah cautioned against framing the issue in regional terms.“This country should not be divided by such a narrative, not a north-south narrative or any other divisive framework. It should not be torn apart along these lines. What do they mean? Do members sitting in this House think about which state they come from when they speak or make a decision?… When we took the oath, we sincerely said and said so.”He further accused critics of abusing the constitutional discourse.“Those who have taken constitutional oath on their hands are now trying to propagate the narrative of North-South divide. We will not allow this…” Shah said.Backing up his argument with numbers, the home minister said the southern states would not lose representation after delimitation.Karnataka, Andhra PradeshTelangana, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala – these five states currently hold 129 of the 543 parliamentary seats, or 23.76%. After the 50% increase, when we allocate seats to these five states, it increases from 129 to 195, representing 23.87% of the 816 seats. No one will be harmed,” he said.Reacting strongly to the Centre’s proposal on women’s reservation, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav said, “Based on almost 11 years of experience, even if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gives a written assurance that they will appoint a woman prime minister, we still won’t believe them…”
