BJP MP Tejasvi Surya faced censure from the Lok Sabha chair on Thursday after accusing the DMK of “separatism”. The Bengaluru South lawmaker had been delivering a vehement defence of delimitation when he took a swipe at fellow MP Andimuthu Raja and accused the opposition of carrying out ‘systematic propaganda’ to mislead the people on three newly introduced bills.

“The argument is that if there’s a proportionate increase in 50% of seats for all states…then the states of southern India will lose out. I am as much an Indian from the south as you (Raja) are. The only difference is that I do not speak the language of separatism that the DMK practices. I believe that the country — from Kashmir to Kanyakumari — is one,” the BJP MP claimed.

The remarks prompted a sharp outcry from the Opposition benches as the BJP lawmaker paused briefly. Lok Sabha Chair NK Premachandran was seen urging for calm as he assured that he would address the contentious remark.

“Tejasvi Surya ji. Hear me for one second,” the Chair could be heard saying repeatedly as the Bengaluru MP attempted to continue his speech and Opposition leaders shouted their dissent.

“Please don’t make any allegations against any political party. If you’re taking the name of Shri Raja then I have to give him a chance to reply” he continued as Surya urged the Chair to let him finish his address first.

Delimitation debate rages in Parliament

The Lok Sabha took up the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill and the Delimitation Bill for debate and passage on Thursday. They were introduced after a fiery 40-minute debate and calls from the Opposition to divide votes for the introduction of the constitutional amendment bill.

It was later introduced with 251 members supporting it and 185 members voting against the same. The bill will increase Lok Sabha seats to “operationalise” the Women’s Reservation Law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census. Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33% reservation for women. The draft bill circulated among Lok Sabha members said these reserved seats would be “allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a state or Union territory”.

Several opposition parties on Wednesday decided to unitedly vote against the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament — while asserting that they are not against reservation for women in legislative bodies.