New Delhi: The Congress has asked the Narendra Modi government whether it has a fresh proposal on delimitation, and why it is "stubbornly refusing" to convene an all-party meeting on the issue.
The party's communications chief, Jairam Ramesh, said Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge had written to the Prime Minister on October 16, and that Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju replied on Monday. Ramesh said Rijiju's reply referred to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's "selective consultations" on delimitation with some political parties in March 2026, but did not mention that Shah had apparently made commitments during those consultations that were not contained in the Constitution Amendment Bill taken up on April 16. That Bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha on April 17, he said.
Ramesh posed three questions: does the government have a firm new proposal on delimitation that it has discussed with any party; why is it refusing to call an all-party meeting to present any new proposal transparently; and does it intend to bring back the defeated Bill and attempt to pass it with a two-thirds majority? "That will no doubt fail again," he said.
In his letter to Kharge, Rijiju said the government had consistently sought the Opposition's support for the delimitation-linked women's reservation legislation and expected the Congress to cooperate. He said he had written to Kharge on March 16, March 26 and April 12, and met Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during the monsoon session. After the Congress did not provide dates for discussions, the government reached out to other parties, including the DMK, Samajwadi Party, YSRCP, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), AIMIM and the BJD, he said.
Kharge, speaking in Kalaburagi, said he would apprise the Prime Minister of his concerns over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, the proposed delimitation and the implementation of women's reservation during their interaction on October 21.