New India [India], April 14 : Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday criticised the Centre over the upcoming special session of Parliament, alleging a lack of transparency and calling it a "mockery of democracy."
He also questioned the timing of the session and claimed that MPs had not been provided the constitutional amendment bills ahead of discussion.
The special session of Parliament is expected to deliberate on key constitutional amendments related to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023.
In a post on X, Ramesh wrote, "The special session of Parliament will begin day after tomorrow on April 16th - when the election campaign in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal will be at its peak. The Modi Govt has rejected the Opposition's perfectly reasonable and legitimate requests to convene an All-Party meeting after the elections are completed (fifteen days from today)."
https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/2043891117956182341?s=20
"Till this morning, the Modi Govt has NOT shared with MPs the Constitution Amendment Bill(s) they are supposed to be debating and voting upon. This makes a complete mockery of democracy and reveals the bulldozer mentality of the PM, who once claimed he was non-biological and now says he is a non-grihasthi," the post read.
The Parliament is set to meet on April 16, 17,18 in a special sitting of the budget session to discuss amendments to Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 and a proposed Delimitation Bill to implement the one-third reservation for women legislators.
The Government has planned two major amendments. Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam tied women's reservation to the new census and delimitation. Due to census delays, the plan is to proceed with the 2011 census data.
The Lok Sabha seats may increase from 543 to 816 post-amendment. A separate Delimitation Bill will be introduced. Both bills need to be passed as Constitutional amendments for women's reservation. Keeping up with the status quo, there is no provision for OBC reservation, and SC/ST reservation will continue.