Will Sharad Pawar’s NCP(SP) go against INDIA bloc to support delimitation bill? Here’s what Supriya Sule said

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP(SP)’s working president and MP Supriya Sule on Wednesday said that her party would consider supporting the delimitation bill if the government agrees to a uniform 50 per cent increase in Lok Sabha seats across all states.

“Party would consider supporting the delimitation bill if a 50 per cent cap is discussed,” said Sule when asked to clarify her party’s stand if the bill proposed a uniform 50 per cent increase in seats.

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Her remarks hold significance as they come amid the growing buzz over NCP-SP’s likely crossover to the BJP.

According to reports, a majority of NCP-SP MPs and MLAs are in favour of joining the BJP-led NDA.

However, Sule has maintained that her party will not go against the Opposition’s INDIA bloc, suggesting that every constituent of the alliance was ready to support the bill but was not satisfied with the formula for implementation.

“There is no question of going against the INDIA alliance, because every single constituent member of the alliance was saying ‘yes’ that day… We were all in discussions, but we were not satisfied with the formula or the implementation. So this is not a conversation over coffee at Café Coffee Day. This is Parliament. Unless it is documented and explained on paper, nothing is official until it’s on paper. So unless… this talk in the air holds no meaning in Parliament,” she said during a press conference.

Later, the NCP-SP leader dismissed reports regarding her party’s stance on the delimitation bill as “incorrect and based solely on speculation.”

“Neither I nor our party has held any official discussions with any media on this subject. Our party’s position is determined only after detailed internal deliberations within the party and with our allies in the ‘INDIA’ front. Therefore, the news claiming that our party has taken a firm stance on this has no basis whatsoever,” Sule said in a lengthy social media post on X.

“Until the government officially introduces the revised delimitation bill in Parliament, it would be inappropriate to comment on it. Since no such bill is yet available, any discussion regarding its content or our position on it is unwarranted,” she added.