Chandigarh: Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday claimed that the Centre’s proposed move on population-based delimitation of parliamentary constituencies, under the guise of reservation for women, is “highly discriminatory” against Punjab.
Badal stressed that his party strongly supports women’s reservation but strongly opposes its use as a “camouflage to demarcate boundaries.”
“Punjab, a predominantly minority state, will be the biggest victim of this demarcation exercise,” the former deputy prime minister said in a post on X.
While Punjab will see only a nominal increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats, Haryana will see an increase of almost 100 per cent, which is almost double its representation in the lower house of Parliament, he added.
“By making population the sole basis for border demarcation, the move punishes Punjab for its successful implementation of the national agenda on population control and rewards states that have defied those goals,” Badal noted.
He alleged that the proposed delimitation exercise looks like a conspiracy to hand over disproportionate control over India to just four states in the Indian heartland – Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan – by almost doubling their combined strength in the Lok Sabha and pushing it beyond 40 per cent of the total seats.
“This will deal a fatal blow to the already weak federal structure of the country. In the interest of true federal unity and integrity, the BSP will lead an all-party initiative in Punjab to strongly oppose this attack on our state and on the federal structure of India,” Badal said.
The SAD president said his party has full support for the Women’s Reservation Bill.
The number of Lok Sabha seats will be increased to as many as 850 from the current 543 to “activate” the Women’s Reservation Act before the 2029 Parliamentary elections, after a delimitation exercise to be carried out based on recent census data.
According to the Constitution Amendment Bill, which will be introduced during the special session of Parliament from April 16 to 18, the number of seats will also increase in state assemblies to accommodate the 33 percent women’s quota.
The Budget session of Parliament has been extended and a special session of the Assembly will be held for three days from April 16 to 18, during which amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhiniyam Act, commonly known as the Women’s Reservation Act, will be introduced for implementation in 2029.
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