Raipur: Delimitation could raise the strength of the Chhattisgarh assembly from 90 seats to 135, and if the women's reservation provision is implemented, 45 of them may be reserved for women, a change that could reshape the state's politics.
Delimitation is expected to increase Lok Sabha and assembly seats. With the bill providing 33 per cent reservation for women pending in the Centre, a rise in seats will directly affect the states. Chhattisgarh, too, is said to be preparing for the change.
Separately, state minister Lakshmi Rajwade criticised her own government's police and administration. She lashed out over action taken against villagers who went on a rampage after a woman riding a scooter died in a road accident in Surajpur district.
She said action was being taken against the villagers one-sidedly. Her remarks are being read as a sign of unease within the ruling BJP.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai burnt a 101-foot effigy of Ravan at the WRS Colony in Raipur on Dussehra. With Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, he flagged off new passenger train services connecting Rowghat with Raipur and Raipur with Kurud. The Tadoki-Rowghat and Abhanpur-Kurud rail sections were also inaugurated.
Sai said around Rs 57,000 crore of railway works were under way in the state, which had achieved 100 per cent railway electrification.
Delimitation and women's reservation have become talking points in Chhattisgarh's politics. With the BJP in power under Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, all eyes are on how new seats will be carved out.
Experts say the delimitation process could take a few years, and it will be possible only if the women's reservation bill clears Parliament. The minister's criticism of her own government's police is being read as unease within the ruling camp.