Does govt have a new proposal for delimitation, asks Congress

New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday responded to parliamentary affairs minister Kiran Rijiju's reply to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge by asking whether the Centre had a new proposal for delimitation or whether it intended to again push the same Constitution (Amendment) Bill that was defeated during the last budget session.

"Does the Modi government have a firm new proposal for delimitation that it has discussed with any party? Is it the Modi government's intention to bring back the defeated bill and make another attempt to get it passed with a super-tainted two-thirds majority, that will no doubt fail again?" asked Congress spokesman Jairam Ramesh.

Also Read | PM Modi reaches out to political parties, asks all to stand together for national interests


However, the Congress response skirted Rijiju's statement that the Opposition party's leadership did not communicate any date to the government side for consultation on the delimitation bill, despite the government asking for it. This makes political circles wonder whether Congress now asking about any new delimitation proposal is its way of trying to open a dialogue with the government, more so when many other parties, including SP, DMK, Shiv Sena, NCP-SP, YSRCP and BJD have already held discussions with government representatives on the delimitation plan amid reports of a move to convene an extended sitting of the monsoon session.

This time Congress refrained from criticising the government on the monsoon session still not being prorogued after Rijiju listed past instances of long gaps before proroguing sessions, including an 87-day phase during the UPA government. Ramesh, however, questioned why the government had been refusing to call an all-party meeting on the delimitation bill.