Sharad Pawar's NCP to consider delimitation support if 50% seat increase accepted, clarifies Supriya Sule

NCP (Sharad Pawar) Working President Supriya Sule addressed a press conference in Mumbai to clarify the party's official stance on the upcoming constitutional amendment bills regarding women's reservation and delimitation. Sule stated that the party has not yet revealed its cards, clarifying that they would consider supporting the delimitation bill only if the condition to increase seats by 50 percent is explicitly implemented. She urged the central government to officially present this 50 percent seat increase proposal in writing, noting that while Union Home Minister Amit Shah verbally favored it in the Lok Sabha, the provision was not included in the draft text.

Sule emphasized that since the final text of the new bill has not reached them, the party cannot define its ultimate position without evaluating it first. She promised to study the legislation within 24 hours of its introduction to declare their stance, adding that any formal consensus would require thorough internal consultations with their INDIA alliance partners. Reflecting on the legislative history, she stated that the women's reservation bill previously passed in the Indian Parliament by just a single vote, and she reiterated that such critical national legislation should be passed unanimously instead.

Prior to addressing the media, Sule held extensive consultations with top political leaders, including the Congress President, Sanjay Raut, Bunty Patil, Sharad Pawar, Jayantrao, and Shashikant Shinde, to brief all party MPs and MLAs. She noted that the press conference was called specifically to dispel public and media misunderstandings arising from isolated reporter queries. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had previously stated in the Lok Sabha that the 2026 delimitation would benefit southern states, raising their total representation from 129 to 195 MPs under a 50 percent expansion model that would increase total Lok Sabha seats to 816, while confirming that elections until 2029 will remain under the older framework.