Ever since the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill, which sought to take up delimitation of parliamentary constituencies and implement 33% reservation for women in legislative bodies from 2029, failed to pass in the Lok Sabha after falling short of the required two-thirds majority, there has been criticism as well as support on the stand taken by the Congress-led opposition parties.
Out of 528 members present, 298 voted in favour while 230 opposed the bill. As a result, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla declared the bill defeated.
Reacting to the development, former YSR Congress party leader and ex-Rajya Sabha member V Vijay Sai Reddy joined the issue and criticised opposition parties for blocking the legislation.
Agreeing with the stand taken by his former boss and YSRCP president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, the former MP argued that the move could adversely impact southern states, including Andhra Pradesh, particularly in future delimitation exercises based on population data.
Reddy stated that opposing the bill deprived southern states of an opportunity to safeguard their representation.
He also dismissed arguments made by Congress leaders as speculative, asserting that the state’s share in parliamentary representation would have remained fair even after adjustments.
“By opposing the 131st Constitutional Amendment, delimitation in future will be on the basis of the ongoing census which will sharply reduce the share of seats of South Indian states, including AP. The “India Group” parties led by Congress that blocked the Bill have not only dug their own grave but caused irreparable damage to South India. A major opportunity to prevent this was lost,” Sai Reddy tweeted on X.