Now Reading: DMK Sets Three Conditions for Backing Delimitation Bill
-
01
DMK Sets Three Conditions for Backing Delimitation Bill
The DMK has informally told the government it wants three safeguards before supporting a constitutional amendment for fresh delimitation, The Hindu reports. It seeks a 25-year extension of the freeze on seat…
The Story in Brief
The DMK has informally told the government it wants three safeguards before supporting a constitutional amendment for fresh delimitation, The Hindu reports. It seeks a 25-year extension of the freeze on seat allocation, a 50% increase in Lok Sabha seats for every State, and a State-wise seat schedule in the proposed legislation. The party will decide formally after seeing the Bill.
The government is seeking Opposition support but lacks the two-thirds majority currently needed. In the 540-member Lok Sabha, the threshold is 360. The government would have 346 votes if 22 DMK MPs backed it, leaving a gap of 14 before accounting for absences or abstentions. Home Minister Amit Shah has earlier spoken of expanding the House to 850 seats to implement women's reservation after delimitation.
The Indian Opinion
The loudest claims paint delimitation as either an assault on southern States or an easy constitutional fix. Neither follows from a Bill that has not yet been circulated. A seat freeze, the method of distributing new seats and protections for existing representation all need public scrutiny, not private assurances. The first concrete test is the State-wise schedule. Without it, Parliament and voters cannot judge who gains or loses.
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 1 sources.
