Mumbai, April 16 (NationPress) Uddhav Thackeray, the leader of Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, emphasized on Thursday that the Women’s Reservation Bill, which received parliamentary approval in 2023, should be enacted without delay. He proposed a temporary halt to the delimitation process concerning the restructuring of electoral districts.

"This issue is pivotal for fostering national unity. It's not merely about the political prospects of any single party; it concerns the nation's future. Consequently, further discussion and examination are essential!" Thackeray stated.

The Thackeray faction underscored that Maharashtra was the first state in India to provide 33% (later increased to 50%) reservation for women in local governance, under the administration of the Maha Vikas Aghadi and prior governments.

Thackeray made it clear that his party does not oppose the 33% quota in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, as Shiv Sena-UBT MPs supported the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam when it was initially presented in 2023.

His main concern is the government's intention to associate the reservation with a new delimitation exercise, which involves redrawing constituency boundaries, without first conducting an official national census.

Sanjay Raut, a Shiv Sena-UBT MP, referred to the delimitation process as a "perilous game" masked as women’s empowerment. "The party is apprehensive that redrawing districts based on outdated or estimated population figures might unfairly diminish the political influence of states like Maharashtra and those in Southern India," he remarked.

Raut further indicated that if the government were genuinely committed, the reservation would have been put into effect for the 2024 elections instead of being deferred to 2029. The Shiv Sena-UBT has raised logistical concerns regarding the proposed enlargement of legislative bodies. For example, if the Maharashtra Assembly expands from 288 to 400 seats to accommodate the quota and delimitation, they argue that the existing infrastructure, such as the Vidhan Bhavan, is not equipped for the increase.

Along with other members of the INDIA coalition, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-UBT asserts that delimitation should not disadvantage states that have effectively implemented population control policies.

"We advocate for the reservation for our mothers and sisters, but we will not permit it to be manipulated as a political instrument to redraw India's map without a transparent census," Raut stated.