DMK slams 'rushed' move on Women's Reservation, calls it gimmick

'Move aimed at electoral gains'

"Let me make it very clear that our Chief Minister has not said that he is against the reservation. DMK has always and will always stand for the reservation of women, and there is no doubt about that. But the thing is now that the women's reservation bill may be based on the 2011 caste census. That's how initially the stand was. But now what they propose to do is not in line with the 120th Constitutional Amendment Bill 2023, passed by the Union government. So what we are worried about is that this may be a gimmick or a thing for the coming electoral things," she told ANI.

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"The state assemblies are going for elections. So this is most probably aimed at securing electoral gains, and pushing such an important mandate in a very rushed, hurried manner is not acceptable. So what our Chief Minister has demanded is that let a proposal be given to us, let all party discussion, opposition party discussion take place, and it should be a fair delimitation. That is what our Chief Minister emphasised on," she added.

Stalin slams timing, demands special session

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin on Tuesday slammed the government over the timing of its move, saying that the Model Code of Conduct is already in force.

"Considering the current Model Code of Conduct and the preoccupation of political parties, I request that a Special Session of Parliament be convened in early June to enact these historic constitutional amendments for delimitation, increase of seats, continuation of the current share of representation of States, and a guarantee that such representation will continue for the next 30 years," he said in post on X.

He said the recent newspaper reports indicate that women's representation in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies is being considered based on the 2011 Census. "This step is not in line with The Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023 passed by the Union BJP Government and its earlier position to take up this historic initiative only after delimitation is carried out based on the Census conducted after 2026. This is most probably aimed at securing electoral gains in the forthcoming Assembly elections in four major States. Pushing such an important step when the Model Code of Conduct is already in force is unprecedented," the Chief Minister said.

DMK supports reservation but stresses fair delimitation

"Having said that, as the President of the DMK and the proud inheritor of the Dravidian legacy that has spearheaded women's empowerment for more than a century, I fully support this initiative of Womens Reservation without any preconditions, while at the same time stressing our right to fair delimitation," he added.

Stalin said it is DMK's consistent stand that the current proportional representation of States should not be disturbed under any circumstances. "To achieve this, the delimitation and distribution of constituencies among States must include a constitutional provision ensuring the same for the next 30 years," he said.

Govt plans amendments based on 2011 census: Sources

Sources said the government is planning amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Act in the budget session of Parliament. Due to census delays, the plan is to proceed with the 2011 census data. The 2011 census is to be the basis for delimitation and seat redistribution and Lok Sabha could increase from 543 to 816, the sources said.