Keep LS at 543 for next 25 years: Kharge writes to PM

A day after Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju sparked speculations about a special session of the Parliament to pass the delimitation Bill, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to share the Government’s proposals for delimitation with all the political parties. Kharge also called for a 25-year freeze on the Lok Sabha’s existing strength of 543, as well as the introduction of one-third reservation for women from the 2029 elections.

“It is up to the Government. Whenever the Parliament is to be called, it is the Government which decides and requests the President to call the session. When the House is not prorogued, then the session can be called,” Rijiju said. Asked if this meant a special session could be on the cards, Rijiju replied, “No. That I will not answer.”

The remarks came amid speculation over the Government’s next move after the Monsoon Session of Parliament was adjourned sine die on August 13 without being formally prorogued.

 “I had also requested you to give all political parties adequate time to study such proposals in detail before they are introduced in any special session of Parliament that you may be contemplating,”

Kharge wrote in his letter to the PM. “I am writing now to reiterate this request since the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs has publicly stated in a television interview last night that such a special session of Parliament could well be convened,” he added.

This perhaps explains the continued delay in the prorogation of the Monsoon session, he added.

Kharge said the Congress is very clear — maintain the existing strength of the Lok Sabha at 543 for another 25 years, maintain the existing State-wise strength in the Lok Sabha for another 25 years, and introduce one-third reservation for women from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

“Please do not again try and bulldoze as you attempted on April 16 and 17, 2026,” Kharge said in his letter to Modi. Sharing his letter on social media, Kharge said, “I have written to PM Modi on delimitation, the delay in prorogation of the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, and the likely special session mentioned by the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in a television interview last evening.”

The Congress has made the demands for freezing the Lok Sabha strength and implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women earlier as well. In a resolution passed earlier this month, the Congress Working Committee had reiterated its commitment to the two demands.

The Opposition party had termed the PM’s appeal to opposition parties to support the delimitation-linked bill for implementing women’s reservation as a drama, and alleged that his single-point agenda was “Modi preservation, not women’s reservation”.

During the Budget Session on April 17, the Government faced a setback as the Constitution amendment Bill, involving delimitation, for the implementation of the women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies was defeated in the Lower House.

Of the 528 MPs who voted in the Lok Sabha, 298 voted in support, while 230 opposed it. The Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.