Congress Vows to Block Delimitation Bill in Monsoon Session

The Indian National Congress announced it will strongly oppose the reintroduction of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, during the Monsoon Session of Parliament running from July 20 to August 13. The legislation seeks to increase the Lok Sabha seat ceiling from 550 to 850 and implement 33 percent women's reservation. A previous version of the bill failed to secure the required two-thirds majority on April 17, 2026, receiving 298 votes in support and 230 against.

Following a strategy meeting at Sonia Gandhi's residence, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting an all-party meeting to study revised proposals. Party leaders, including Jairam Ramesh, alleged the government is attempting to engineer splits in opposition parties to secure a "tainted majority" and argued that population-based delimitation would unfairly penalize southern and western states. While the party supports women's reservation, it opposes linking it to the delimitation exercise.

Conversely, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale expressed confidence that the National Democratic Alliance now possesses the necessary two-thirds majority due to shifts in political arithmetic. Some reports suggested the government might propose a uniform 50% increase in seats for all states to appease southern regions, a measure NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule initially indicated her party might consider, though she later dismissed those reports.

Beyond the delimitation dispute, Congress plans to challenge the government on NEET paper leaks, inflation, and alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ayodhya Ram temple. The party also intends to oppose legislation regarding the removal of jailed ministers, the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, and amendments to the National Food Security Act.