New Delhi, April 17 (NationPress) Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi strongly challenged the government's defense regarding three proposed laws, including the women's reservation bill in Parliament aimed at operationalizing the women’s quota. She accused the government of leveraging this cause to protect its own political future by redrawing the electoral landscape of the nation.

During the Lok Sabha debate, the DMK MP raised serious concerns about the government's timing, intentions, and motives regarding the special session of Parliament, which disregarded the Opposition's worries.

She criticized the Centre for its delay in implementing the women's reservation, despite receiving unanimous support from Parliament in 2023, and suggested that the government was using the bill to advance its political interests.

Questioning the connection between delimitation and reservation, she argued that the BJP-led government is not genuinely committed to women's issues, instead using the 2011 Census data for delimitation to benefit politically.

“They are attempting to politically engineer the nation’s electoral map through backdoor delimitation,” she stated.

Despite the Opposition's call for a Parliamentary session post-elections, the government dismissed these requests.

“For years, you showed no urgency in implementing it. Now, you blame the Opposition for the delays. This is not electoral reform but a rescue strategy stemming from your fear of poor performance in the upcoming elections,” Kanimozhi expressed.

The DMK leader dismissed Home Minister Amit Shah’s assurances regarding the maintenance of the Southern state’s representation in the Lok Sabha and criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promises of “civilizational commitment.”

She warned that linking delimitation to women’s reservation is a trap, designed to shift blame to the Opposition if the legislation falters.

“I challenge the Home Minister—why can’t you implement reservation without tying it to delimitation? Why not ensure reservation within the current number of seats?” she questioned.

“The Prime Minister refers to it as a civilizational commitment, yet women who protect families and sacrifice for the nation have gone unrecognized for decades,” she added.

“This bill appears to serve as a precursor to your future political objectives. This balance is unclear, misleading, and ultimately serves no genuine purpose,” she stated.

Referring to the Home Minister's promises that delimitation would not alter the state’s legislative representation, she insisted these assurances should be included in the draft legislation.

“History shows that 80 to 90 percent of this government's promises have gone unfulfilled; thus, we cannot trust your words,” she affirmed.

Addressing the criticism aimed at the DMK for opposing the bill, she asserted that they would not succumb to the government's directives and would actively defend women’s rights.