"Cow If Boy, Rs 50,000 If Girl": Andhra MP Defends His 3rd Child Offer

Andhra Pradesh Lok Sabha MP Kalisetti Appala Naidu on Monday defended his outrageous offer to women - Rs 50,000 for the birth of a third child, and a cow if that child is a boy - by pointing to a "very poor next generation" in the state and the "very important" need to increase population in India, already the second-most populous nation with over 1.44 billion, or 144 crore, people.

The bizarre (and sexist, in giving greater 'rewards' for boys) offer - from a member of the ruling Telugu Desam Party, which is also allied with the Bharatiya Janta Party at the centre - has been praised by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, and hailed by others as "revolutionary".

The 'offer' was made Saturday at a public meeting in Mr Appala Naidu's constituency - Vizianagaram, one of the state's 25 Lok Sabha seats and a TDP stronghold.

It comes amid a row between the centre and the southern states, led by Tamil Nadu, over delimitation - i.e., the process of redrawing constituency boundaries, in this case for the Lok Sabha - based on current population data.

The southern states argue they will get fewer seats because they, on average, have controlled population growth better than their northern counterparts, many of which are Hindi-speaking BJP bastions. For example, Tamil Nadu now has 39 seats, or 7.2 per cent of the total. But a population-based delimitation could reduce because the state will get fewer overall seats.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has been leading this charge, and has sought assurances from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that any increase in the total number of MPs will be calculated in the same proportion - MPs to states - as laid out based the 1971 census, meaning his state will not be penalised for having controlled population between then and now.

READ | "Delimitation Based On 1971 Census...": Tamil Nadu Parties To PM

Mr Modi was also reminded of a promise by one of his predecessors - the BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000 - that the delimitation then would be decided based on 1971 population data.

Last week the Chief Minister - whose DMK spearheaded anti-Hindi protests in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s and '60s, which led to it winning the following election - invited counterparts from seven states, including Punjab and Bengal, to discuss this issue.

READ | MK Stalin Raises Delimitation Stakes, Calls 7 State Leaders To Chennai

"Delimitation is a blatant assault on federalism, punishing states that ensured population control by stripping away our rightful voice in Parliament. We will not allow this democratic injustice!" he said on X, calling for a meeting in Chennai on March 22.

Andhra Pradesh's Chandrababu Naidu is one of those invited by Mr Stalin, but his attendance is uncertain. Mr Naidu is an ally of the BJP and, earlier this month, sought to delink delimitation from population management. The TDP boss warned of an "aging problem" that would soon affect the south; i.e., there will be too many elderly people and not enough of working age.

READ | "Delimitation Separate From Population Management": C Naidu

"Aging problem has started in South India. Only Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have advantages in North India. We were thinking it (high population levels) is a disadvantage... but it is an advantage now," he said. Mr Naidu also signalled a personal policy shift - to population growth.

READ | "Sword Over South States": MK Stalin On Delimitation, 'Hindi Imposition'

The centre has refused both charges, countering 'Hindi imposition' claims by saying the new education policy and the three-language formula does not force any student to study Hindi, and deflecting criticism of delimitation by insisting the southern states will not be disadvantaged.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking in Tamil Nadu this month, insisted the southern states would not lose a single Lok Sabha seat. However, Mr Stalin was quick to point out he did not also say the northern states would not be given more seats instead.

READ | Stalin's "LKG Student Lecturing PhD Holder" Charge. Shah's Counter

The delimitation row also flared up in Parliament this morning, with opposition parties walking out in protest. Their walk-out was condemned by Union Health Minister and BJP boss JP Nadda.

Tamil Nadu - one of a few states in which the BJP has never managed a political foothold - votes in an Assembly election next year, with delimitation and controversy over the 'imposition of Hindi' likely to be major poll issues.

With input from IANS

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