NEW DELHI: Amid speculation that the Union government is working on multiple formulations to reintroduce the Constitution amendment bill that would involve delimitation, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the revised proposals.
In his letter, Kharge said he had written to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, in March and April requesting an all-party meeting to discuss the proposals on delimitation.
“Unfortunately, these requests had not been accepted. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, then failed to secure the required 2/3 majority in Lok Sabha on 17 April 2026 by a clear margin,” he said.
“I have been reading in media reports that the Union Government now proposes to reintroduce a revised (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 during the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament. I would, once again, request you to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the government’s revised proposals on delimitation, etc., and give us adequate time to study them in detail before they are introduced in Parliament,” he said.
The Congress chief’s letter comes even as the ruling NDA appears to be inching towards a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha to pass constitutional amendment bills.
On Wednesday, INDIA bloc partner NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule hinted that her party would consider supporting the proposed delimitation bill provided the Centre gives an assurance that the number of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in every state will be increased uniformly by 50%.
While the government failed to muster the required two-thirds majority to clear the bill on April 17, sources said that there is a proposal to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats for all states by 50% to address the concerns of the South. Southern states feel that a population-based delimitation exercise would shrink their political power in the Lok Sabha.
Raising LS strength
The govt wants to increase LS seats to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s quota law before the 2029 polls following delimitation based on the last published 2011 Census. Currently, the NDA needs 360 votes to achieve the magic figure