Congress to oppose delimitation Bill, says BJP won’t get two-thirds majority

MP Jairam Ramesh says the Congress will also raise issues such as Ram Temple donation theft, ethanol-blended fuels, and question paper leaks during Parliament’s monsoon session.

The Congress will raise the Ram Temple donation theft, ethanol-blended fuels, and question paper leaks, among other issues, in Parliament during the monsoon session that begins Monday, communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh said. He said the party would also work to unite the Opposition against any delimitation Bill the government may introduce.

Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, and other senior MPs participated in a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in New Delhi on Thursday.

Speaking after the meeting chaired by Sonia Gandhi, Ramesh said the government had failed to pass the delimitation Bill last time and that Parliament had a long discussion about it.

“Our stand is clear that we are going to oppose it…” the Congress MP said. “The Bill, which is reportedly going to be tabled by the government, we have no prior information about it. We are hoping that we will be informed about it in the all-party meeting. Although it is just a formality, because in this meeting 35-40 leaders speak, some ministers listen, but those two at the highest position do what they want to do.”

However, Ramesh reiterated that the Congress favours the immediate implementation of the women’s reservation Bill.

‘An insult to the Constitution’

Ramesh also referred to the defection of MPs from the TMC and other Opposition parties. “It is a fact that some parties are now divided. But this is an insult to the Constitution. Still, the BJP won’t be able to touch the two-thirds majority. Our senior leadership—Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge—are continuously in touch with these leaders,” he said.

Ramesh further said the Opposition would also raise the issue of ethanol-blended fuels. “A top leader of the BJP and his son are involved in this. We are surely going to demand a debate on this issue,” he said.

The Congress leader also referred to activist Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike in support of the Cockroach Janta Party’s demand for the Union education minister’s resignation over the irregularities in NEET and other exams. “We have been continuously demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan for the last 45 days. It’s true that other people also have the same demand. But we will continue to do so.”

Ramesh further said the Congress would also oppose the amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.

Congress President Mallikharjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the proposed constitutional amendment on delimitation, following reports that the Union government is considering reintroducing the Bill. In his letter, Kharge urged the Prime Minister to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the revised proposals before they are tabled in Parliament.

Kharge said he had earlier written to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs seeking consultations on the delimitation proposals, but his requests had not been accepted.

My letter to the PM Modi, once again requesting him to convene an All Party Meeting to discuss the Government’s revise proposals on Delimitation etc.

All of March and April, 2026, I had been writing to Hon’ble Minister of Parliamentary Affairs requesting that the Union… pic.twitter.com/FidK3kDSek

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) July 16, 2026

Kharge’s letter come days after reports suggested that the Union government is planning to reintroduce a revised 131st Amendment Bill, 2026, during the upcoming Monsoon Parliament session. According to the reports, the revised Bill may propose a 50 percent increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats for all states. The government is also reportedly working on a fresh draft of the constitutional amendment linked to the implemation of the women’s reservation law.

“I have been reading in media reports that the Union Government now proposes to reintroduce a revised (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 during the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament. I would, once again, request you to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the government’s revised proposals on delimitation, etc., and give us adequate time to study them in detail before they are introduced in Parliament,” Kharge said in his letter.

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More