New Delhi, Aug 27: Leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reiterating the grand old party’s demand to maintain the existing strength of the Lok Sabha at 543 for another 25 years and urged the government to convene an all-party meeting to discuss its proposed delimitation exercise before any special session of Parliament.
Kharge’s letter came after Union parliamentary affairs minister hinted at a possible special session of Parliament for the passage of the Delimitation Bill.
In his letter, Kharge urged the government to convene an all-party meeting to discuss its proposed delimitation exercise before any such session.
In a post on X, Kharge shared his two page letter to Modi and said, “I have written to PM Modi on delimitation, the delay in prorogation of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, and the likely special session mentioned by the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in a television interview last evening.”
In his letter, Kharge said, “I had last written to you on July 16, 2026 requesting you to convene an All-Party meeting for discussing the Government’s proposals for delimitation. 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.”
He stated that he was 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”.
“This perhaps explains the continued delay in the prorogation of the Monsoon Session itself,” he said.
He also reiterated the Congress demands and said, “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. Introduce one-third reservation for women from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress leader also reiterated his demand that the government should convene an all-party meeting and give political parties and state governments adequate time to examine the proposals.
“This is an issue that has enormous significance for the country. Please do not again try and bulldoze as you attempted on April 16 and 17, 2026,” Kharge added.