Centre weighs special Parliament session in September for women’s quota bill

New Delhi: The Centre is mullying a short special session of Parliament in the third week of September to push through the delimitation-linked women quota bill, sources said.

The option to call an all-party meeting before that is also on the table as suggested by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, sources involved in the exercise said.

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The move comes after Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, urging the government to hold an all-party meeting before summoning a special session.

Two enabling bills of delimitation linked women quota are already pending with the Lok Sabha.

However, the final call will depend on whether the government is confident of securing the required two-thirds majority, sources said.

The timing of the session remains flexible, but a third week of September sitting is increasingly seen as the preferred option.

Sources said the proposed sitting is likely to last three to four sittings with a narrowly defined agenda centred on the delimitation-linked women's quota legislation.

Although both Houses were adjourned sine die after the Monsoon Session, Parliament has not yet been prorogued.

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That leaves the government with the option of reconvening the same session for a special sitting without waiting for the Winter Session, a route it had adopted earlier this year.

Government managers are simultaneously engaged in assessing the numbers needed for passage of the Constitution amendment Bills.

While the NDA's strength has improved in recent months following shifts in the political landscape and support from new allies and defectors, sources said the government is still working to secure the numbers required for a constitutional amendment.

The decision on the special session hinges as much on political arithmetic as on parliamentary scheduling. If the government is satisfied about the numbers, it could move quickly to convene the session in September. Otherwise, it may opt to prorogue the Monsoon Session and defer the exercise until a more favourable political window.