Congress: When mischief is intended, the damage is enormous

NEW DELHI: The opposition is preparing to hold a joint meeting on the eve of the special session of Parliament to reach a collective view on the contentious delimitation bill, congress The draft constitutional amendment bill, which does not maintain the ratio of lower house seats in each state and calls for completion of women’s quota on the basis of existing lower house seats, could be implemented within a week, it said on Tuesday. The Congress’ view, coupled with TN CM Stalin’s “warning”, suggests that the opposition may take a hostile stance towards the government’s agenda and even oppose the bill. Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi said: “The bill received on Tuesday afternoon is full of errors. It is completely silent on the Prime Minister’s assurance that inter-state percentage parity will be maintained. The Delimitation Commission is an external quasi-judicial body but is not mandated to ensure this.”“ Inter-state equality refers to the fear that an increase in LS seats will harm southern and smaller states – a point pointed out by KC Venugopal. “When the intention behind a bill is mischievous and the content is perverse, the extent of the damage to parliamentary democracy is enormous,” party spokesman Jairam Ramesh said. DMK MP P Wilson said population standards would “reduce southern states to apolitical entities”. CPM MP John Brittas called it a strategy to reduce southern India to a “political colony of the north”. RJD MP Manoj Jha also expressed similar concerns. Sources said all parties in the Indian group will attend the meeting.