New Delhi
Amid the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, political exchanges have intensified over issues including women’s reservation, delimitation, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), and matters concerning students. Opposition parties have been demanding answers from the government on several issues.Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal reiterated her party’s support for women’s reservation, while making it clear that the party’s objection is not to reservation itself but to a population-based delimitation formula that could reduce the number of Lok Sabha seats allocated to Punjab.Speaking to news agency IANS, Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the Shiromani Akali Dal has supported the Women’s Reservation Bill since it was introduced in 2023. She said the party had then demanded that the legislation be implemented at the earliest, and maintained the same position when the issue resurfaced in April.However, Badal expressed opposition to the proposal to redistribute seats on the basis of population. She said that due to a lack of employment opportunities over the past several years, a large number of young people and residents of Punjab have migrated to other states. In such a situation, a population-based formula could disadvantage Punjab.She said the formula could reduce Punjab’s existing 13 Lok Sabha seats. According to Badal, if the number of Lok Sabha seats across all states is increased by 50 per cent as part of the proposed legislation, Punjab could get around 19-20 seats. This would also create seven to eight additional seats for women.Badal questioned why the Akali Dal would oppose women’s reservation under such circumstances. She said the party’s demands are for women’s reservation, a uniform 50 per cent increase in the number of seats, and avoiding a population-based formula for delimitation.Congress MP Pawan Khera also criticised the government, saying that the Opposition’s position was clear and that the government should take a decision on the Women’s Reservation Bill at the earliest.On Punjab politics, Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said that any decision regarding an alliance between the Akali Dal and other parties was an internal matter for them. He said the Congress was prepared to contest elections on its own in Punjab and was confident of victory.Meanwhile, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi raised the issue of alleged excesses during student protests and the reported use of pellet guns. He questioned whether Union Home Minister Amit Shah was aware of these incidents.Gogoi said the Opposition had been raising both major issues from the beginning and that both were important. According to him, the government had gradually agreed to one of the issues, but should now reach an agreement on both without wasting any further time.Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also clarified his recent remarks that had triggered controversy. He said his entire conversation should be heard because his statement had been made in a different context. According to Tharoor, he had merely acknowledged the fact that rallies and protests organised by certain other groups had received greater visibility and impact on some issues. He clarified that his remarks were not intended as an attack on his own party.Tharoor had earlier said that Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Students Ki Goonj’ programme did not receive as much support from Generation Z as the protest organised by the ‘Cockroach Janata Party’.Tharoor further said that Congress and several others had raised the relevant issues well before these programmes. He added that several other points were made during the broader conversation and that his remarks should not be viewed in isolation.On the proposed FCRA and delimitation bills, Tharoor clarified the Congress party’s position. He said the immediate priority was to see the final text of the bills presented by the government and what changes were incorporated into them. Only after that, he said, would the party decide its final strategy.However, Tharoor said that based on the provisions that have emerged so far, the Congress does not agree with the proposed legislation and remains committed to strongly opposing the bills.
