Priyanka Gandhi says Opposition not told of special Session as Centre eyes November 24 or 25 for delimitation Bill

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Friday that the Opposition has not been told of any plan to call a special Session of Parliament for the Delimitation Bill, even as officials in Delhi put the likely dates at November 24 or 25. “They have not intimated the rest of us. So, if they are planning it, I don’t know,” she told reporters in Wayanad, where she is on a four-day visit that began on Wednesday.

Nothing has been notified. The Lok Sabha Secretariat has issued no summons, and the government has not confirmed the dates in public. What exists is a set of statements by officials and by Home Minister Amit Shah in an informal conversation with journalists, and an Opposition that says it is being kept out of the loop.

What officials say is planned

According to the officials, the government has begun work on convening Parliament on November 24 or 25 for a sitting of about three days. The Delimitation Bill would be taken up alongside the legislation on women’s reservation, and the plan is to pass both within that window. The officials also said the government will bring an amendment to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act in the same sitting. Shah is reported to have confirmed the FCRA change in his remarks and to have said Parliament will pass the Delimitation Bill.

A Constitution Amendment Bill needs a two-thirds majority of members present and voting. Shah has told journalists the ruling alliance has 15 to 18 votes more than it needs, a claim Congress’s Jairam Ramesh called bluff and bluster on Thursday, as we reported in our earlier story.

Why a recall is easy

Both Houses were adjourned on August 13 at the end of the Monsoon Session but the Session was never prorogued. It has now stayed technically alive for 91 days, which is a record. Because of that, the government can reconvene members on 48 hours’ notice, rather than the 14 days a fresh Session would need. That is why the dates are being discussed so close to the day.

What the Bill does

The proposal is to raise the ceiling on Lok Sabha seats from the present 550 members to a maximum of 850, of whom up to 815 would come from states and 35 from Union Territories. It would also free the one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, passed in 2023, from its link to a fresh census. Under Article 334A that reservation takes effect only after delimitation based on the census.

The seat count matters most in the south. Analysts note that if the House kept its present size and seats were redistributed by population, Tamil Nadu would fall from 39 seats to 32 and Kerala from 20 to 15, while Uttar Pradesh would go from 80 to 89 and Bihar from 40 to 46. A rise in the total would let every state gain while the southern share still shrinks. One option under discussion is to raise every state’s seats by 50 per cent, which would hold the existing proportions, but that needs changes to Articles 81 and 82. The other is to use the 2011 Census instead of waiting for the 2027 count.

How we got here

The delimitation Bills so far

1. Apr 17, 2026Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill defeated in the Lok Sabha, 298 to 230
2. Aug 13, 2026Monsoon Session adjourned, never prorogued
3. Oct 19, 2026Kiren Rijiju writes to Mallikarjun Kharge on consultations
4. Nov 2, 2026Amit Shah repeats an offer of a special session on electoral rolls
5. Nov 12, 2026Government sources say a special Session is being weighed
6. Nov 13, 2026Officials point to November 24 or 25; Priyanka Gandhi Vadra says Opposition not told

The April amendment failed with 298 votes for and 230 against, the first defeat of a constitutional amendment under this government. The two companion Bills were dropped. In October, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge about consultations, a letter we reported, and on November 2 Shah renewed his offer of a special session, then on electoral rolls, in a story we carried.

The two sides

The Congress has not opposed women’s reservation. It wants it applied within the existing 543 seats and objects to tying it to a redrawn map. Its line since April, voiced by Kharge in letters to the Prime Minister, is that no Bill should be pushed through again without an all-party meeting. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra added that dissent is being silenced and institutions weakened under the BJP.

The NDA’s case is that delimitation is a constitutional necessity once new census data arrives and that it is the only way to give women their one-third quota. On April 17 the Prime Minister urged MPs not to deprive women of new opportunities, and Shah said only the INDIA bloc stood against the quota.

Smaller parties will decide the count. In April the YSR Congress backed the Centre and the JD(U) supported the Bills, while the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party voted against.

What it means for readers

For voters, the Bill decides how much weight each state’s vote carries in the Lok Sabha for decades, and when women can expect a third of the seats. A constitutional amendment also needs ratification by at least half the state legislatures, so even a clean win in Parliament would send the matter to the states, and the Election Commission says delimitation orders generally cannot be challenged in court, though the Supreme Court has held that this immunity is not absolute.

What happens next

The thing to watch is a notice from the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Either the Monsoon Session is resumed on two days’ notice or a new Session is summoned, and either way members will see the final text of the Bill, including whether the 50 per cent rise in every state’s seats has been written in. Congress has asked for an all-party meeting first; the government has not agreed to one.