‘The delimitation bill will be defeated in the Lok Sabha’: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge (Photo: ANI)
New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition in the Union House and Chairman of the Congress Party, Malikajun HagerIndia Bloc lawmakers opposed the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill and the Delimitation Bill in the Lok Sabha and would “defeat” the proposed legislation, they said on Friday. Malikajun Haq said: “Our people are fighting and will defeat it in the Lok Sabha.”Discussions in the Lok Sabha are continuing on the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Union Territories Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026 (expanding its scope to Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir) and the Delimitation Bill, which seeks to increase and redraw the Lok Sabha constituencies to increase its seats to 850.Opposition parties claimed that the delimitation process would reduce the representation of southern states in the Lok Sabha if based on the 2011 census. Congress MP Suresh called the delimitation bill “dangerous”, claiming it would “destroy” the opposition. “We are not opposing the women’s reservation bill. We are opposing the delimitation bill. It will be a dangerous bill that will completely destroy the opposition parties in the country,” he said.CPM MP Sandosh questioned the need to combine delimitation, census and reservation for women legislators, demanding a reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. P Sandosh told ANI, “The Women’s Reservation Bill is a bill that was passed unanimously by the Indian Parliament and all of us are cooperating with the government. Unfortunately, the government is trying to misuse the Women’s Reservation Bill to hamper the federal structure of the country.” Why put delimitation, census and all these things together? That’s the problem. The Prime Minister should answer this question.“Meanwhile, JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha questioned the Indian group’s protest against the bill, pointing out that all political parties had unanimously passed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in 2023.“Prime Minister Modi made it clear in his speech that there will be no change in delimitation. You passed it in 2023, so what is there to protest about? How could this be a threat to democracy? They don’t trust women in this country,” the JD(U) MP said.The Congress party also issued three whips to Lok Sabha members, asking them to attend the special session of the House from April 16 to 18 and support the party’s stand.To pass the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, the Center needs a two-thirds majority in the 362-seat Lok Sabha.
