New Delhi: The Congress launched a scathing attack on the Modi government on Sunday over its delimitation proposal related to the implementation of the women’s reservation law, saying it will benefit larger and populous states more and is nothing but a “weapon of mass distraction”.
The Opposition party also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “hoodwinking” people by claiming that the strength of the southern states in the Lok Sabha will not go down under the proposed
changes as the gap in the number of seats between the more populous states and others will increase.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, “The PM is up to his usual tricks of making misleading statements that are meant to deceive. He says South Indian states will not be hurt in any way if the strength of the Lok Sabha is increased by 50 per cent and the number of seats of each state in the Lok Sabha is also increased by 50 per cent.”
“This is hoodwinking the people of the country in which the PM has unique expertise,” he said.
For example, the difference between Uttar Pradesh’s and Kerala’s seats in the Lok Sabha is now 60 and Modi’s proposal will increase it to 90, he said.
Similarly, the difference between Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will increase from 41 to at least 61, Ramesh said, adding that such examples can be multiplied.
“Mr. Modi is bulldozing a proposal that will work more to the benefit of larger and populous states since their already large numbers will get further magnified,” the Congress leader said.
It is not just south India but states like Punjab and Haryana and those in the northeast that will also see their relative influence decline, he argued.