NCP (SP) to offer conditional support to Delimitation Bill

Sule made these comments on Wednesday amid speculation that the NDA government may introduce the highly controversial Delimitation ill during the monsoon session of parliament, scheduled to begin on July 20.

MUMBAI: NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule says her party would consider supporting the proposed Delimitation Bill only if the BJP-led NDA government at the centre guarantees a uniform 50% increase in Lok Sabha seats across all states. Sule has also demanded that the legislation spell out the formula for redrawing the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies.

NCP (SP) to offer conditional support to Delimitation Bill

Sule made these comments on Wednesday amid speculation that the NDA government may introduce the highly controversial Delimitation ill during the monsoon session of parliament, scheduled to begin on July 20.

They also come amid buzz that the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), an alliance partner in Maharashtra’s opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), is inching closer to the ruling NDA coalition. Sule also made these comments only a day after senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil met Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at his official residence on Tuesday night. Two senior leaders from the rival NCP — Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare — were also present, fuelling speculation that efforts to reunite the two NCP factions have been rekindled with the BJP’s backing.

“The new Delimitation Bill has not yet been introduced. If it includes a provision ensuring a 50% increase in seats for all states, we will discuss it within the INDIA bloc. If it serves the interests of the people, we will consider supporting it,” Sule said while addressing the media in Mumbai.

She said the party had earlier conveyed its reservations over the proposed legislation during a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah and parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju. According to Sule, the centre had assured opposition parties that their concerns, particularly regarding a 50% cap on an increase in seats, would be addressed in the legislation. However, she claimed those assurances were not reflected in earlier version of the bill.

“We unanimously supported the Women’s Reservation Bill. As far as the Delimitation Bill is concerned, it must clearly state that the number of seats in all states will increase by 50% in equal proportion,” she said. “There should also be a 50% cap so that no state faces injustice.”

Sule also said the bill must clearly define the proposed formula for delimitation in every constituency. “We all know what happened with Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi’s Lok Sabha constituency (Kaliabor) in Assam during delimitation. Therefore, we have concerns about the formula the government may adopt while redrawing constituency boundaries,” the Baramati MP said.

She also rejected speculation about a merger with the Congress or her party joining the NDA. “We are part of the INDIA alliance. We have neither received any proposal from the Congress nor made one to them regarding a merger. Similarly, we have neither received any proposal from the BJP nor extended one to them. We are happy where we are at the moment,” she said.

NCP reunion on the cards?

NCP (SP) insiders said discussions on a merger with the rival NCP have resumed although it is not clear where NCP chief and deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar stands on the issue. In light of this, a meeting on Tuesday night at chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s residence, attended by NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil and NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, has assumed significance.

However, Sule claims Jayant Patil met Fadnavis to raise concerns over action taken against the NCP (SP)’s council president in Ishwarpur. Asked why the two NCP leaders were present at such a meeting, she said she had no information on this.

“Only the chief minister can reveal the truth. What I do know is that Jayant Patil did not try to hide anything. He entered and exited the chief minister’s residence through the front gate, and that too without wearing a hoodie,” she said, in a dig at Fadnavis, who used to keep changing his attire when meeting Eknath Shinde while working out the split in the Shiv Sena in 2022.

Talk about whether or not the NCP (SP) would align with the BJP-led NDA coalition at the centre has assumed significance as the alliance is making an aggressive attempt to bolster its numbers to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to pass the Delimitation Bill.

Only recently, six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs switched to the Shiv Sena, an NDA constituent, and before that, 20 Trinamool Congress MPs announced their defection to the little-known Nationalist Citizen Party of India, which is allied with the NDA, after the Trinamool Congress lost power in West Bengal.

Before the death of former NCP president Ajit Pawar, the two NCP factions were discussing a possible reunification, with the merged party expected to become part of the NDA. However, the plan was put on hold following Ajit Pawar’s death in January.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has refuted reports that his party and others in INDIA block have agreed to support the Delimitation Bill in parliament. “We don’t know whether the bill will be introduced in the monsoon session but it is wrong to say that the Shiv Sena (UBT) has agreed to support the bill in the upcoming session. The opposition had some demands regarding the bill. If the central government agrees to them, then opposition parties including our party, the Congress, DMK etc will together decide on a future course of action,” said Raut.