New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS) The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Saturday backed Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju’s indication that a special session of the Parliament could be convened, while the Opposition hit out at the Centre, accusing it of “misleading people” by attempting to implement delimitation in the garb of women’s reservation.
This comes after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking whether the government planned to convene a special session of Parliament to pass the proposed delimitation Bill. Kharge said he was reiterating the demand after Rijiju reportedly indicated in a television interview that a special session could be convened.
Shiv Sena Spokesperson Shaina NC supported Rijiju, saying: “As the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, he has always reached out to the Opposition…if a special session is announced, it is the prerogative for all stakeholders to partake and understand their parliamentary responsibilities.”
BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said that the government had “resolved to re-introduce the women’s reservation and delimitation bill” when the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 was defeated in the Lok Sabha.
“It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah’s resolve that we will implement women’s reservation and coming to delimitation, it has taken place in the past as well. People are being misled (by the Opposition) that the number of seats will go down…they (Opposition) are indulging in negative politics and will be exposed if a special session (of the Parliament) is convened,” he told IANS.
However, the Opposition hit back, with Purnia MP Pappu Yadav saying that Kiren Rijiju as well as the entire government “is frustrated”.
“They (government) have got nothing to do with the country’s future…The women’s reservation Bill was passed three years ago, but they do not seem to be serious about women’s reservation, specially the poor and middleclass women,” he told IANS.
Congress leader Rakesh Sinha echoed the sentiments, stating, “The Women’s Reservation Bill has already been passed by Parliament (in 2023). So, what Women’s Reservation Bill are they going to bring now? The Congress party is saying that implement women’s reservation based on 543 seats (of Lok Sabha) from today itself.”
He asserted that the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023, on the existing Lok Sabha strength will be supported by the opposition parties.
“But they want to mislead the public in order to implement delimitation, which will especially impact the southern states. What blueprint do they have about delimitation? That should be made public after calling an all-party meeting,” Sinha added.
JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said: “They (government) does not have the numbers to pass the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 (that includes delimitation)…how many more parties will they break for this?”
Earlier, DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan said: “They want to club delimitation with women’s reservation because if anyone opposes delimitation, they will portray them as being against women’s reservation. This is a tactic being used by the BJP. We are not against women’s reservation. In fact, when the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed earlier, we supported it, and all parties supported it. It was originally introduced by the Congress party.”
“Our opposition is to the proposed delimitation and the number of seats they are suggesting,” he added.
–IANS
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