Misled nation over delimitation bill, says CM Mamata Banerjee on PM’s address

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his address to the nation, saying the PM has misled the people over the delimitation bill.

Using her X handle, CM Banerjee said her party, Trinamool Congress, always prioritised higher representation of women in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

“It is deeply unfortunate that the Prime Minister chose to mislead the nation rather than address it honestly. Let me put this on record. Trinamool Congress has always championed higher political representation for women. We have the highest proportion of female elected representatives in both Parliament and the State Legislature. In the Lok Sabha, 37.9% of our elected members are women. In the Rajya Sabha, we have nominated 46% women members. The question of opposing Women’s Reservation does not arise and never has,” she said.

A day after the Central government failed to secure passage of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Act and the Delimitation Bill, which sought to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, PM Modi addressed the nation on Saturday evening. In his address, he launched a blistering attack on the Opposition, accusing it of “committing a foeticide of the idea of women’s representation before the whole world, via their opposition to the move”.

Elaborating on her party’s opposition to the proposed amendment to the bill, CM Banerjee said, “What we are fundamentally opposed to is the delimitation exercise that the Modi Government was plotting to push through by using women as a shield for its vested political agenda. What we are fundamentally opposed to is the altering of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution, the division of this nation and the usurpation of power through gerrymandering, by redrawing political contours to hand greater representation to BJP-ruled states at the expense of others.”

According to her, it was an assault on “federal democracy”, and her party will not watch it happen in silence.

“If this government was genuinely serious about this noble cause, why did it wait nearly three years after the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill on September 28, 2023? Why rush it through when several states are in election? And why couple it with Delimitation? Trinamool Congress has stood for women for decades. We will continue to. But we will not be lectured on a subject that the ruling dispensation neither understands nor respects,” she said.

The West Bengal Chief Minister further asked PM Modi to address the nation from the floor of the Parliament.

“And Mr. Prime Minister, the next time you address the nation, have the courage to do so from the Floor of Parliament, where you are subject to scrutiny, challenge and accountability. What you did yesterday was cowardly, hypocritical and fork-tongued. You can feel power slipping through your fingers. And you are prepared to go to any extent to hold on for just a little while longer. That is all this was,” she added.

IANS