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

Andhra Pradesh Lok Sabha MP Kalisetti Appala Naidu has defended his outrageous provide to girls – Rs 50,000 for the beginning of a 3rd youngster, and a cow if that youngster is a boy – by pointing to a “very poor subsequent era” within the state and the “essential” want to extend inhabitants in India, already the second-most populous nation with over 1.44 billion, or 144 crore, folks.

The weird (and sexist, in giving higher ‘rewards’ for boys) provide – from a member of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Celebration, which can also be allied with the Bharatiya Janta Celebration on the centre – has been hailed by TDP seniors as “revolutionary”.

The ‘provide’ comes amid a row between the centre and the southern states, led by Tamil Nadu, over delimitation, i.e., the method of redrawing parliamentary constituency boundaries – primarily based on present inhabitants knowledge – earlier than the 2029 common election.

The southern states have argued this implies they are going to get fewer seats within the re-constituted Parliament as a result of they, on common, have managed inhabitants progress higher than their northern counterparts, lots of that are Hindi-speaking and seen as BJP bastions.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has been main the cost, as additionally on the ‘imposition of Hindi’ on non-Hindi talking states, by way of the contentious three-language system.

Final week Mr Stalin – whose Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam additionally spearheaded anti-Hindi protests in Tamil Nadu within the Nineteen Thirties and ’60s, which led to the DMK dominating the election that adopted – invited counterparts from seven states, together with Punjab and Bengal, to debate these points.

“Delimitation is a blatant assault on federalism, punishing states that ensured inhabitants management by stripping away our rightful voice in Parliament. We is not going to permit this democratic injustice!” he mentioned on X, calling for a gathering in Chennai on March 22.

The centre has refused each expenses, countering the ‘imposition’ claims by saying the brand new training coverage and the three-language system doesn’t power any scholar to review Hindi, and deflecting criticism of delimitation by insisting the southern states is not going to be deprived.

Andhra Pradesh’s Chandrababu Naidu is a type of invited by Mr Stalin, however his attendance is unsure. Mr Naidu is an ally of the BJP and, earlier this month, sought to delink delimitation from inhabitants administration. The TDP boss warned of an “growing older downside” that might quickly have an effect on the south; i.e., there shall be too many aged folks and never sufficient of working age.

“Getting old downside has began in South India. Solely Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have benefits in North India. We have been considering it (excessive inhabitants ranges) is an obstacle… but it surely is a bonus now,” he mentioned. Mr Naidu additionally signalled a private coverage shift – to inhabitants progress.

Tamil Nadu – one of some states during which the BJP has by no means managed a political foothold – votes in an Meeting election subsequent yr, with delimitation and the language difficulty more likely to be main ballot points.