DMK's Kanimozhi hits back at PM, says black is colour of goddess Kali
New Delhi (PTI): DMK leader Kanimozhi on Friday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his 'kala tika' swipe at her party's protest over women quota law amendment, saying black is the colour of goddess Kali and that the ruling party of Tamil Nadu will protest over the issue till the end.
Intervening in the debate on amendment to the women's reservation law in Lok Sabha on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi had taken a swipe at DMK members in the House for wearing black clothes to protest the amendment bill, saying it works as a 'kala tika' to ward off evil eye.
Referring to the black clothes and flags, he said there is a tradition to apply 'kala tika' before commencing a good work for which he thanks them.
Participating in the debate on Friday, Kanimozhi, who was dressed in a black saree, said she is "surprised that people who are there to defend Hindutva were not reminded of goddess Kali, the dark goddess who wears black".
She also said black is also the colour of DMK's intellectual leader Periyar, who has taught them to fight till the end.
Besides Kanimozhi, other DMK MPs were also dressed in black in the House.
The DMK MP also demanded that the women's reservation act, which provides 33 per cent quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, be implemented from 2029 with the same 543 seats.
The delimitation exercise should be delinked from women's quota, she demanded.
On Thursday, while the DMK members wore black clothes in the House, party leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin hoisted a black flag in the state and burnt a copy of the delimitation bill, dubbing it a "black law" that seeks to make the Tamil people "refugees" in their own land.
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BJP using women's quota bill as front to pass Delimitation Bill that will break India: Mamata
Cooch Behar (WB) (PTI): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was using the proposed amendment to the women's quota law in Parliament as a front for the Delimitation Bill that would "break the country into pieces".
The TMC will fight this Central government's move at every step, she asserted at her party's poll rally here.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to tweak the women's quota law, along with the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, to implement the proposed amended women's quota law, in the Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
According to the Constitution amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 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 per cent reservation for women.
Opposing the Centre's move, Banerjee alleged that "the BJP brought the Delimitation Bill while keeping the women's reservation bill at the front".
"The BJP is trying to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to nearly 850 through the Delimitation Bill. It will break the country into pieces," the TMC supremo said.
She also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not speaking the truth about the development of north Bengal at a BJP rally last week.
"The prime minister said nothing was done for the development of north Bengal. But we spent Rs 1.72 lakh crore on the development of the region," Banerjee said and asked Modi to cross-check data before making such remarks.
