New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday addressed the Lok Sabha during the debate on the Women’s Reservation and Delimitation Bills. During his speech, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee opposed him by loudly raising slogans.
PM Modi took a dig at the TMC MP, saying, "Arey bhai! inko bolne dijiye, waha pe bichare ke muh pe tala laga hua hai, waha Bengal mei bhi bolne nahi deta usko," which roughly translates to, "Oh brother! Let him speak, the poor man’s mouth is locked there, he isn’t even allowed to speak in Bengal." PM Modi and others on the ruling benches could not control their laughter after this. The light-hearted moment has gone viral on social media.
Besides, PM Modi assured the house that there will be no discrimination among states when it comes to the delimitation exercise, whether they are “North, South, big or small".
“Some are creating trouble just for political benefit. I rise in this House with a sense of responsibility to say from this sacred place that, whether it is the South, North, East, or West; whether small states or large states, the processes being undertaken will not discriminate against anyone," PM Modi said.
18 hours of debate
Speaker Om Birla informed the House that discussions on the three Bills would continue for 15 to 18 hours, with voting scheduled for 4 pm on Friday.
Earlier in the day, three Bills related to women’s reservation and Delimitation were introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The government is planning to implement the women's reservation ahead of the 2029 General Elections by bringing in an amendment to operationalise the 2023 Act and a constitutional amendment to delink the delimitation process from the 2027 census. The proposed delimitation bill's implementation is tied to a population-based revision of constituencies based on the 2011 census, according to news agency ANI.
Opposition To Vote Against The Bill
The INDIA bloc and other opposition parties that are expected to vote against the bill comprise Congress (with 98 MPs), Samajwadi Party (37), Trinamool Congress (28), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (22), Shiv Sena (UBT) (9), NCP (SP) (8), and others such as Rashtriya Janata Dal with two MPs, Communist Party of India (Marxist) (4), Aam Aadmi Party (3), Muslim League, and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha with three MPs each, CPI(ML)L and National Conference with two MPs each, along with smaller parties, including Azad Samaj Party-Kanshiram (1).
