New Delhi, Apr 3 The Congress on Friday alleged that the government has called a "special session" to pass bills related to the women's quota law and delimitation to "gain political advantage" in the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu elections, which is a "gross violation" of the model code of conduct.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the government "delayed" taking action for 30 months after passing the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, to "capitalize" on the election season.
He stated that there has been no official communication or proposal from the government regarding delimitation.
"However, we have learned that there will be a proportionate increase in the number of seats in the Lok Sabha," Ramesh said at a press conference here.
He claimed that while the claim is that the increase will be proportional, the reality is that smaller states in the South, Northeast, and West will be disproportionately affected.
According to Ramesh, this would mean that Uttar Pradesh's representation will increase to 120, while Kerala's representation could only reach around 40.
"This would be very detrimental to many states," he said.
Ramesh also criticized the government's actions, stating that the "special session" is solely aimed at gaining political advantage in the upcoming elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. He questioned why the session couldn't have been called after 15 days.
Opposition leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will convene a meeting with senior Congress MPs and other opposition leaders before April 16 to strategize.
Ramesh argued that the government is acting based on "narrative management" and is attempting to call a "special session" because they are losing control of the political and foreign policy narrative.
He urged the government to hold a meeting with all parties after April 29.
These comments followed reports that the Budget session of Parliament will reconvene on April 16 after a brief recess to pass bills to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816, allowing for the implementation of the women's reservation law at the earliest, amid the upcoming elections.
While the government is keen on passing the bills, including amending the Nari Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, the opposition has accused the Centre of trying to rush through amendments to gain political advantage in the state elections.
Both houses of Parliament are scheduled to reconvene on April 16, with sources indicating that the sitting will likely last for three days to address the proposed legislations.
"The government has stated that both houses will meet on April 16, 17, and 18, and that a special session will be held," Ramesh said. "The first point is that Kiren Rijiju, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, wrote to Congress chief Kharge on March 16, requesting a discussion on amending the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. Kharge responded, stating that an all-party meeting should be held, as the government believes in divide and rule," he added.
On March 24, all opposition parties wrote to Rijiju, stating that all-party meetings would be held after April 29, as the model code of conduct is in place and political parties are focused on elections, he said.
"Two days later, on March 26, Rijiju wrote to Kharge, requesting a meeting to discuss the constitutional amendment," he continued. "Half an hour later, Kharge responded to Rijiju, reiterating the demand for an all-party meeting after April 29," he said, recounting the sequence of events.
The government had initially planned to call a "special session" in early April, before the elections in Kerala and Assam, but their attempts were thwarted, Ramesh said.
"Instead, they decided to hold the session when campaigning for elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu would be underway, and when the model code of conduct was in effect," he said.
In all these letters, the focus was solely on amending the women's reservation bill, but now it is clear that this special session is also about delimitation, Ramesh said.
"There was no mention of delimitation. Rijiju never mentioned that delimitation was also on the agenda. The women's quota law will be amended, and there will be a constitutional amendment related to delimitation," he said.
When the women's quota was passed in September 2023, the government said that it would be implemented after the Census and delimitation, he recalled.
"Kharge had then demanded that it should be implemented immediately, as you don't need the Census or delimitation, but they said that Census and delimitation were necessary," Ramesh said.
And suddenly, the government said that the Census results would be available by 2029, he said, adding that this contradicts what the Registrar General said recently.
The government has been holding back-channel talks with the Opposition to bring at least two bills to implement the women's reservation law and delink delimitation from the Census to increase seats in the Lok Sabha from the present 543 to 816.
The issue saw a heated exchange between the treasury and opposition benches in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, with Leader of the House J P Nadda stressing that the government has the right to decide on the timing when a legislation has to be brought in, while Kharge accused the government of being a "bully", and claimed that the BJP was trying to draw political mileage out of the issue of women's reservation.
The Congress on Wednesday had claimed that the Modi government is proposing to "bulldoze" a bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50 per cent, with the number of seats allocated to each state also to be increased by 50 per cent, and said such a move would "disadvantage" smaller states in the South, Northeast, and West.
There has been no official word on the Opposition party's claims.
The sitting starting April 16 is part of the second half of the Budget session.
According to the government calendar, the House was scheduled to adjourn sine die on April 2.
While elections in Puducherry, Assam, and Kerala are scheduled for April 9, elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. In Tamil Nadu, elections will be held in a single phase on April 23.