Congress criticises timing of special session, raises concerns over electoral impact

PTI, April 3, 2026, New Delhi : The Congress on Friday alleged that the Union government has called a "special session" for passing bills related to amending the women's quota law and delimitation to "grab political mileage" in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu polls, which is a "gross violation" of the model code of conduct.

Asserting that the government's push for a rushed delimitation exercise would have "dangerous consequences", Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said "we do not want any disturbance in the present differentials and relative strength".

Ramesh said the government kept "sleeping" for 30 months after the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, and to take "double credit" in the election season.

He said there has been no official communication or proposal from the government's side on delimitation.

"However, off the record, we got to know that there would be a proportionate increase in Lok Sabha seats," he said at a press conference here.

The Congress leader said the claim is that it would be proportional, but the reality is that smaller states and those in the South, Northeast, 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.

"So what we have heard unofficially, this would be very dangerous for many states," he 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.

Leaders of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will call a meeting of senior Congress MPs and then hold a meeting with other Opposition leaders before April 16 to strategise on this.

This government functions on "narrative management". They want to call a "special session" as they are losing the political and foreign policy narrative, Ramesh said.

The government should not be in a hurry and call an all-party meeting after April 29, he asserted.