The Congress has criticised the government for calling a three-day special parliament session from April 16, calling it a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The party alleged the session has been convened to gain political advantage ahead of polls in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
The three-day session will pass key Constitution amendment bills aimed at increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816, enabling the implementation of the women’s reservation law at the earliest.
Asserting that the government’s push for a rushed delimitation exercise would have “dangerous consequences”, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, who is in-charge of the party’s communications, said, “The only objective of this special session is to grab political mileage to influence polls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Could it not have been called after 15 days?”
Ramesh said that the government only wrote about amending the women’s reservation law in its letters to Opposition parties, adding that there had been no official communication or proposal on delimitation.
This is the exchange of letters between the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and the Congress President-LoP(Rajya Sabha) that gives the background to the unilateral decision taken by the Modi Govt to convene a special session of Parliament when the election campaign in pic.twitter.com/8exW8fdddv— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 4, 2026
“The government has taken a one-sided decision to call the session when campaigning would be on for polls in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu and the Model Code of Conduct is in place,” he said.
The Congress also cautioned against any haste in amending the Constitution over the delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies, saying it is a sensitive matter and the government must tread carefully, otherwise the exercise might put several states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala at a significant disadvantage.
He said that smaller states and those in the south, north-east, and west would suffer massively. “With the proposed bill, Uttar Pradesh’s strength will zoom to 120 while Kerala will crawl up to at best 30,” he claimed.
Mallikarjun Kharge (Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha) and Rahul Gandhi (Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha) will meet senior Congress MPs and then hold discussion with other Opposition leaders before April 16 to strategise on this matter.
According to the government calendar, both Houses of Parliament were scheduled to adjourn sine die (for an indefinite period) on April 2.
While elections in Puducherry, Assam and Kerala are scheduled for April 9, polls in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. In Tamil Nadu, polls will be held in a single phase on April 23.
(With inputs from PTI)
– Ends
Published By:
Aprameya Rao
Published On:
Apr 4, 2026 12:29 IST
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