Lok Janshakti Party supremo Ramvilas Paswan on Saturday urged the Centre to raise the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 814 and make provisions for a separate quota for women from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, other weaker sections of society and minorities.
"I have serious apprehensions over the passage of the Bill in its present form. We have suggested increasing the number of seats from existing 543 to 814 and making provisions for reservation within reservation for SC, ST, other weaker sections of society and minorities in the bill before adoption in the Lok Sabha," said Paswan.
Stating that there has been no change in the number of LS seats though the population has swelled to 120 crore, Paswan said making reservations for women in the existing seats would encourage corruption and jeopardise the development of a constituency, as the representatives will remain in doubt whether their seats would be reserved for women after a five-year term.
Paswan also asked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to explain to the people on March 22 (Bihar Divas) about the promises he had fulfilled about the welfare of the people of the state. Paswan charged the state government with failure in maintaining law and order and checking corruption, especially in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
