How Modi government aims to use women’s representation to expand Lok Sabha using 2011 census numbers
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For weeks, the Modi government has claimed that it was convening a special session of Parliament to speedily implement the Women’s Reservation Act. However, on Tuesday, two days before the session is to begin, draft bills shared with MPs reveal the government wants to make deeply consequential changes to the composition of the Lok Sabha that go far beyond increasing political representation for women.
The bills, if passed by Parliament, could lead to political constituencies being redrawn on the basis of population data from the 2011 census. This could significantly reduce representation for the southern states since the current representation is based on the 1971 census. Since then, birthrates in southern states have been lower than in northern ones.
The special session is being held when campaigning for Assembly elections is underway in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, both of which account for a significant number of Opposition MPs. The special session will draw them away from the battle ground.
Opposition parties have said that population-based delimitation would give an undue advantage to northern and central states in the Lok Sabha, as the proportion of seats in the North would be higher. They also note that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has greater support in northern...