Will place South Indian states at disadvantage: Cong raises concern over proposed Bill to increase size of LS

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday raised concerns over a proposed Bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha, claiming that it could widen the disparity between northern and southern states and place the latter at a political disadvantage.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to social media platform X to criticise the proposal, alleging that the government plans to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha by 50 per cent, along with a proportional rise in the number of seats allocated to each state.

“The Modi Govt is proposing to bulldoze a Bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50 per cent. The number of seats allocated to each state is also proposed to be increased by 50 per cent,” he said.

Ramesh argued that the claim of equitable distribution through a uniform increase in seats is misleading.

“The argument that a 50 per cent increase in seats across-the-board is equitable, is deceptive. Proportions may not change for the present but there are deeper implications that cannot be wished away,” he added.

Highlighting potential regional imbalances, he stated that any increase in the existing gap in representation among states would disproportionately affect southern states.

“Any increase in the gap in the existing strengths of different states in the Lok Sabha will place South Indian states at a disadvantage. For instance, currently Uttar Pradesh has 80 seats and Tamil Nadu has 39. With the proposed Bill, UP’s strength will zoom to 120 while Tamil Nadu will crawl up to at best 59. Similarly, Kerala will increase from 20 Lok Sabha seats to 30 seats, while Bihar will move from 40 to 60 seats. Overall, the southern states will gain 66 seats while the northern states will gain 200 seats,” he said.

Ramesh alleged that the move could disadvantage smaller states across the South, Northeast, and West.

“Mr. Modi is unilaterally preparing a law which will disadvantage smaller states in the South, Northeast, and West. The Chief Minister of Telangana has already raised an alarm. Others may very well follow as this proposal becomes officially public,” he said.

Earlier, on March 26, A. Revanth Reddy had also expressed strong reservations about the proposal, calling it a “hidden conspiracy” that could politically disadvantage southern India.

In September 2023, the new Parliament House was inaugurated with the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill — or Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 — that amended the Constitution to provide for one-third reservation of women in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas and also provided for one-third reservation for women in seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

IANS