Rift emerges in NCP (SP) over delimitation bill as Supriya Sule, Rohit Pawar take divergent stands
Rohit Pawar urged all MPs to oppose the bill, saying the government brought it only to retain power
The Nationalist Congress Party (SP), led by Sharad Pawar, is experiencing internal dissent over the proposed delimitation bill. While party working president Supriya Sule indicated a willingness to support the exercise if Lok Sabha seats are increased by 50% nationally, MLA Rohit Pawar strongly advocates for its opposition. Pawar claims the bill is a tactic by the ruling party to manipulate electoral constituencies for political gain, drawing parallels to manipulated municipal wards and citing the delimitation in Assam as an example of the BJP's alleged strategy to retain power. He warned that the BJP might feign consensus to pass the bill and then disregard opposition concerns, ultimately posing a threat to the Constitution through delimitation and other revision processes.
The Nationalist Congress Party (SP), led by Sharad Pawar, is experiencing internal dissent over the proposed delimitation bill. While party working president Supriya Sule indicated a willingness to support the exercise if Lok Sabha seats are increased by 50% nationally, MLA Rohit Pawar strongly advocates for its opposition. Pawar claims the bill is a tactic by the ruling party to manipulate electoral constituencies for political gain, drawing parallels to manipulated municipal wards and citing the delimitation in Assam as an example of the BJP's alleged strategy to retain power. He warned that the BJP might feign consensus to pass the bill and then disregard opposition concerns, ultimately posing a threat to the Constitution through delimitation and other revision processes.
The Nationalist Congress Party (SP), led by Sharad Pawar, is experiencing internal dissent over the proposed delimitation bill. While party working president Supriya Sule indicated a willingness to support the exercise if Lok Sabha seats are increased by 50% nationally, MLA Rohit Pawar strongly advocates for its opposition. Pawar claims the bill is a tactic by the ruling party to manipulate electoral constituencies for political gain, drawing parallels to manipulated municipal wards and citing the delimitation in Assam as an example of the BJP's alleged strategy to retain power. He warned that the BJP might feign consensus to pass the bill and then disregard opposition concerns, ultimately posing a threat to the Constitution through delimitation and other revision processes.
Differences within the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) have come to the fore over the issue of delimitation.
A few days ago, party MP and working president Supriya Sule said the NCP (SP) could consider supporting the proposed delimitation exercise if the number of Lok Sabha seats was increased by 50 per cent across all states. However, on Monday, her nephew and party MLA Rohit Pawar took a contrasting stand, urging all MPs to oppose the bill in a detailed post on X written in Marathi.
Pawar wrote that the ruling party's primary objective during the monsoon session was to secure the passage of the delimitation bill, and that it could offer a 50 per cent increase in the number of seats as part of its strategy to achieve that goal.
"But if we fall into this trap of numbers and support the bill, the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies will be manipulated just like municipal wards in municipal elections," said Pawar.
Rohit further claimed that the proposed restructuring would then be solely aimed at retaining political power, with little regard for factors such as geographical boundaries or the constitutional framework.
The delimitation in Assam was a perfect example of this, he alleged.
"Since 2016, the BJP has devised a strategy with the help of experienced former officials on how to manipulate constituencies to remain
in power. They are now merely waiting for this bill to be passed," he wrote.
He further alleged that the BJP would project an image of consensus, make a series of promises, and appear to take the Opposition into confidence to secure support for the bill. However, he claimed that once the legislation is passed, the Opposition's concerns would be ignored.
"They are making aggressive preparations to attack the Constitution with delimitation on one side and SIR (Special Intensive Revision) on the other. One has to think carefully about whether to foil this attempt or let it succeed by directly or indirectly supporting the bill," said Rohit.