Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday said he expects Meghalaya’s representation in Parliament to increase following delimitation, citing the State’s population and geographic extent, even as he strongly welcomed the Women’s Reservation Bill tabled in the special session of Parliament, positioning it as a transformative step toward strengthening inclusive democratic representation.
Responding to queries on the implications of the proposed legislation and delimitation, Conrad Sangma said, “Yes, I do expect (that seats will increase in Meghalaya) and I feel that keeping in the large population and the geographic extent of it, government of India and delimitation committee will positively look into that aspect and we are hopeful that our representation in parliament will increase but as I said we have to wait and see.”
Welcoming the move, he said, “This women’s reservation bill that is has been introduced in the parliament in the special session today is a very very welcome step on part of the Government of India, especially the prime minister. This is been a long pending demand, long pending issue and this is something that should have been done a long time back but we must give credit to Prime Minister for this bold step, and the bold decision that he has taken.”
Highlighting its broader democratic impact, he added, “There will always be critics, there were always be people who will view in different ways, but if you look at the larger section of society and the larger impact that will have on democratic representation, which as we have seen, whether it’s Meghalaya state or even in the Parliament that the representation of women is not as at the level that it should be, this will be a very, very important democratic reform and will allowed representation of women at the top level to be able to take decisions which will help overall the society and women especially at large. And as I said its a very positive decision.”
Reiterating support, he said, “We, as a government, and as a political party, the National People’s Party, we completely support this decision. We are very, very happy with this decision and every level whatever was required, we will supported it. And at the same time, I urge all political parties, all organizations across society must support a positive reform like this as it will be in the larger interest of the state and the country as a whole.”
On delimitation, the Chief Minister underlined its necessity while cautioning against disruption. “It is of course another aspect if you look at the demographic changes taking place, population trend that are there, delimitation is the need of the hour. Hence, it must be done and hence to overall implement the women’s reservation bill or the Act when it is passed, we will be looking at the details of how it will be implemented but those details are not with us right now, but as I said, I’m sure discussions will take place and there will be scope for discussion and scope for intervention to see how the implementation of both delimitation as well as the women’s reservation Bill will not be as disruptive as it could be and could be the disruption could even in minimised. So yes, both need to go hand in hand.”
He added that details of the Bill were still being examined. “I have not gone through the details as it is just tabled. As I mentioned that disruption should not be there, I have not gone through the details as it was just tabled, we don’t know the content or details of the content of it but multiple times I have heard the government of India spokesperson mentioning in their comments that there will not be any decrease of seats. In fact, what I have been reading in the press was that the number of seats will increase from 500 to 800 so I expect there will not be a decrease in any state, there could be some states that will gain more than some other states that would be a possibility. I think the decrease in seats is not going to happen. Whatever the case maybe as I said I am sure the government of India will discuss with us and this will be discussed at state and central level and I am sure there will be lots of discussions. So, if such a situation comes up, we will discuss at that point in time.”
The Women’s Reservation Bill, formally known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Constitution 106th Amendment Act, 2023), provides for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha, State Assemblies and the Delhi Assembly. Passed in September 2023, its implementation is contingent upon a delimitation exercise following a future census and carries a 15-year sunset clause.
Meghalaya eyes higher Lok Sabha share post-delimitation, backs women’s quota Bill as key democratic reform
