Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday claimed that the Centre’s proposed move on delimitation of parliamentary constituencies under the guise of the women’s reservation bill is ‘discriminatory’ against Punjab.
The SAD chief said that while his party supports the proposed women’s reservation bill, it will support an all-party initiative to oppose the delimitation move.
“Punjab is a minority state. We will be the biggest victim of this population-based delimitation. Compared with a nominal increase in seats for Punjab, Haryana will witness a nearly 100% increase and double the number of its seats in the Lok Sabha. Where does that leave us? We are already a victim of systematic discrimination and injustice,” Sukhbir said in a statement.
According to the draft Constitution amendment bill, which will be introduced during the special sitting of Parliament from April 16 to April 18, the number of seats would also go up in the state assemblies, while the number of Lok Sabha seats will be increased to up to 850 from the current 543 to ‘operationalise’ the women’s-reservation law, mandating 33% quota, before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise to be carried out based on the last-published census data.
The budget session of Parliament has been extended, and a special three-day sitting of the House has been convened from April 16 to April 18, during which amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, commonly known as the Women’s Reservation Act, will be brought for its implementation in 2029.
The SAD president said the delimitation would punish a state like Punjab for population control and would reward states that defied those goals.
“This move is a conspiracy to hand over the control of India to just four Hindi heartland states – Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan – almost doubling their strength in the Lok Sabha and giving them a combined strength of over 40% of the total in the Lok Sabha. This will render all other states virtually irrelevant,” he said.
Asserting that SAD is strongly in favour of women’s reservation, Sukhbir said the party will “oppose the move to use it as a camouflage for the dangerous delimitation manoeuvre.”
He added that in the interest of federal unity, the SAS will spearhead an all-party initiative in Punjab to oppose this “assault on our state as well as on the federal structure of the country.”