HM Shah slams Oppn bid to block women's quota by fuelling North-South divide

New Delhi, April 17 Criticising the North-South divide narrative, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday challenged the Congress to assure passage of the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' if the government brings an official amendment, within one hour, to guarantee “50 per cent increase in Lok Sabha seats” in all states.

Speaking during the debate on the women’s reservation bill in Lok Sabha, HM Shah said he will not fall into the trap of the Opposition’s demand to delink the women’s reservation from delimitation, which will pave the way for 50 per cent increase in Lok Sabha seats.

“We will not allow the Opposition's attempt to delay the women’s reservation beyond 2029,” he said, warning that the women are watching the Opposition parties oppose the reservation for the fifth time.

HM Shah also condemned the Opposition’s attempt to create a North versus South divide. “The North versus South divide narrative will not be allowed to be used to divide the nation into parts.”

He said the southern states have as much right over the House as northern states. “Forget about north-south debate, even a small UT like Lakshadweep has as much right over the House as Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

Assuring that the southern states will not lose share in the Lok Sabha after delimitation, as being claimed by the Opposition, HM Shah said, at present, the five southern states – Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala – account for 129 seats out of 543 seats or 23.76 per cent of the total strength.

He said that when the number of seats in the Lok Sabha will be raised to 815 after delimitation, the number of seats in the five southern states will increase to 195 seats, with a total representation in the House rising to 23.87 per cent.

HM Shah warned that the government would not let the Opposition “fuel a tukde tukde divide on the basis of North-South narrative”.

He also warned the Opposition parties that if they decide not to support the women’s reservation on one or the other flimsy ground, the women will punish them for failing them once again.

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