New Delhi [India], August 10 (ANI): A delegation of Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) MPs met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Parliament on Monday, amid the ongoing Monsoon Session.
During the discussion, the MPs raised a range of concerns, including flooding and excess rainfall and central funding for drought and disaster relief in Maharashtra.
Another demand that emerged from the meeting was for the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, to be conferred posthumously on social reformers from Maharashtra, including Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, his wife Savitribai Phule, and Anna Bhau Sathe.
“First of all, we requested a loan waiver for our farmers. The compensation for the losses suffered due to excessive rainfall hasn’t been received yet; a loan waiver is necessary. Secondly, in Maharashtra, cancer patients are increasing…So, there should be a cancer daycare hospital in every district; that was our demand,” NCP (SP) MP Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke told ANI.
He said that the PM Relief Fund’s allocation needs to be increased further. “We discussed this with him today. He has taken all these points positively and has also made notes of them,” he said.
The meeting assumes political significance as it comes amid speculation over the NCP (SP)’s position on the proposed Delimitation Bill.
Before the meeting, All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary Sachin Sawant asked its alliance partner in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to convey the INDIA bloc’s “unequivocal position” that the proposed delimitation Bill should not be linked to the women’s reservation issue.
“It is learnt that the MPs of the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday regarding issues concerning Maharashtra. We urge them to firmly convey to Prime Minister Modi that the INDIA Alliance’s unequivocal position is that the Women’s Reservation Act, passed in 2023, must be implemented immediately and should not be linked to delimitation,” Sawant posted on X on Sunday.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, introduced in the Lok Sabha on April 16, sought to increase the strength of the Lower House to 850 seats and expedite the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill passed in 2023.
However, the bill failed to secure the constitutionally required special two-thirds majority of members present and voting in Parliament and was not passed during the extended Budget Session.
The Congress and other opposition parties have supported the Women’s Reservation Act but have opposed linking its implementation with delimitation, which involves increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats and redrawing constituencies.
The Opposition has maintained that women’s reservation should be implemented immediately and delinked from the delimitation exercise. (ANI)
Related reading
