The Congress is in touch with all Opposition parties that voted against the proposed Constitution amendment bill on delimitation earlier this year and is confident the government will not secure the two-thirds majority required to pass it if it is reintroduced during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday.
Ramesh's remarks come amid speculation that the Centre may bring back a revised Constitution amendment bill to operationalise the women's reservation law through a fresh delimitation exercise.
Speaking after a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group at Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi's residence, Ramesh said the party was coordinating with allies and other Opposition parties that had united to defeat the legislation in April.
"We are in touch with all parties including the DMK who voted with us on the 17th April. We are in touch with all parties, which voted together collectively on the 17th. We are in touch with the DMK; we are in touch with the Aam Aadmi Party."
He said the Samajwadi Party had played a crucial role in defeating the government's proposal.
"We are in touch with the Samajwadi Party, and I can tell you that the top leadership of the Congress Party, which means the Congress president and the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha are in touch."
Ramesh said the Congress would continue to coordinate with these parties as they shared concerns over the proposed delimitation exercise and its potential implications.
He alleged that the BJP's approach to delimitation in Assam and Jammu and Kashmir had raised serious concerns and cautioned against believing speculative media reports about the government's numbers in Parliament.
"The reality is that they have a long way to go to secure a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, and there is no scope for achieving it. Nevertheless, let me reiterate -- such a two-thirds majority would be a tainted one."
Referring to the BJP's 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, Ramesh said the party had sought an overwhelming mandate but failed to achieve it.
"They desired a two-thirds majority and raised the slogan of 'crossing 400' in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections; the public rejected them — they secured 240 seats — and now they are in pursuit of a two-thirds majority."
He described any attempt to secure such a majority after the elections as "an insult to the public mandate" and "an insult to the Constitution".
The Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group meeting, attended by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders, finalised the party's strategy for the Monsoon Session beginning July 20.
Among those present were AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram, K Suresh, Naseer Hussain, Manickam Tagore, Kumari Selja, Tariq Anwar, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari and Ramesh.
The Opposition INDIA bloc is scheduled to meet on July 20 to formulate a joint strategy for the session, while the Centre has convened an all-party meeting on July 19.
The government is expected to introduce key legislation during the session, including the proposed Constitution amendment bill on delimitation and increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats, as well as another Constitution amendment bill seeking the removal of the prime minister, chief ministers and other ministers if they remain in custody for 30 consecutive days in serious criminal cases.
Besides opposing the government's legislative agenda, the Opposition plans to raise issues including the alleged NEET paper leak, the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, rising fuel prices and the proposed India-US trade deal during the session, which is scheduled to run from July 20 to August 13.
(With inputs from PTI)