Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the NDA government after the delimitation bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha, saying the Centre is “clearly on borrowed time.”Banerjee, widely seen as second in command in the TMC, said the outcome had exposed the BJP’s “discomfort… for all to see”. In a post on X, he argued that the opposition INDIA bloc rejected the proposal over concerns about fairness, particularly the plan to base delimitation on the 2011 Census while expanding the House to over 800 seats. “The illusion of control is beginning to crumble in plain sight,” he said, in a direct swipe at the Centre.
The bill received 298 votes in favour and 230 against, falling short of the 352 needed for passage. Opposition parties had maintained they would support women’s reservation but only if it was delinked from the contentious delimitation exercise.Banerjee also pressed the government to move swiftly on implementing the 33 per cent quota for women, which had already been passed in 2023 and came into force earlier this month. “If the NDA government is serious, it should immediately bring forward the bill to notify one-third of the seats. Do it now,” he said, adding that the TMC had already ensured more than 41 per cent representation for women.The political tensions come amid heightened activity in West Bengal ahead of assembly elections in less than a week. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee led a roadshow in Durgapur, drawing large crowds and chants of support, as the party stepped up its campaign.At the same time, Income Tax Department raids at multiple locations linked to TMC leaders, including MLA Debashis Kumar, have triggered a fresh political row. The party has accused the Centre of using central agencies to “harass and intimidate” it ahead of polling, while officials maintain the searches are part of a broader probe into unaccounted money flows.
