‘Political demonetisation’: Tharoor slams Center for linking women’s reservation to delimitation

New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor Thursday criticized the government for linking women’s reservation to delimitation, saying the law should be implemented immediately and not linked to the delimitation process. He also called for detailed and broader discussions rather than being rushed through a short period of time.Tharoor told reporters outside the Assembly House that the opposition fully supported women’s reservation but questioned the need to link it with delimitation.“I just want to say that we don’t have any problem with women’s reservation, they (the government) can do it immediately but why include delimitation, that is our question as there are many issues involving delimitation and require long discussions but they want to end it in 2-3 days, which is not possible,” he said.He stressed that if reservation is separated from delimitation, the government can proceed with reservation immediately.“If the government wanted this women’s reservation bill, they could have done it in 2023, they should have done it now and we will support it – no demarcation, only women’s reservation bill,” Tharoor said.The remarks came after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to amend the women’s quota law was introduced in the Lok Sabha with a split vote. Apart from this, two general bills – the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill – have been introduced to implement the proposed revised women’s quota law in the Union Territories of Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir.The Thiruvananthapuram MP also pointed out concerns raised by southern states and called the process “political demonetisation”.“The way you draw lines – the way you demonetize without thinking. We don’t want this demonetization of politics. There should be a big debate; what the formula should be, only population cannot be the basis. Talk to the South, the Northeast, the smaller states,” he said.He reiterated that delimitation needs to be discussed in detail, even as he supported immediate implementation of reservation for women.“Detailed discussions on delimitation are needed but women’s reservation should be implemented immediately. We will support it immediately,” he said.