NewsGate Press Network

Government’s move on de-limitation of Lok Sabha constituencies has run ito a a rough weather as IINDIA Bloc opposition parties decided to oppose it.

On Wednesday the 15th of April 2026, leaders from the Opposition parties met at the residence of Mallikarjun Kharge and decided to oppose the de-limitation bill while supporting the women reservation bill.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, the Congress President and the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge clarified that opposition parties are not against the women’s reservation and urged them to implement Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 but objected to the delimitation process, which they believe weakens the representation of the southern and north-eastern states in the Lok Sabha.

Amng those who took part in the opposition meeting of leaders included Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, RJD Working President Tejashwi Yadav, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal.

Kharge announced the INDIA bloc’s decision, accusing the government of making a “politically motivated” move to suppress the opposition parties.

“We are all in favour of the Women’s Reservation Bill. But the way in which they have brought it, we have reservations about that.

“It is politically motivated. Just to suppress the Opposition parties, the govt is doing this. Though we have supported the Women’s Reservation Bill continuously, we insist that the earlier amendments be implemented.

“They are playing some tricks with delimitation. We all parties should unitedly should fight in Parliament. We will oppose this bill, but we are not against the reservation (for women),” Kharge said.

He added that the “way in which they (BJP) have put in the bill, be it delimitation, they have not even cleared the census. All powers of the Constitution are being taken by the executive. Mostly, the power which can be exercised by the institutions, the parliament they have given is so that they can change delimitation at any time…They have already deceived us in Assam and J&K,” he added.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh expressed concern over the delimitation move, alleging that the delimitation commission is a “weapon” in the hands of the BJP.

“This delimitation is very dangerous. According to this bill, the proportion of many states will decrease, especially for southern states and northeastern states. The way the delimitation commission has worked in Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, it is clear that the commission is a weapon in the BJP’s hands to gain a majority. We are against the delimitation. We want women’s reservation from the next Lok Sabha election,” he said.

It may be recalled that the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, which provides for 33 per cent reservation for women legislators, is linked to the delimitation process in the Lok Sabha.

The government is planning to implement the women’s reservation ahead of the 2029 General Elections by bringing in an amendment to the 2023 Act and a constitutional amendment to delink the delimitation process from the 2027 census.

According to sources, the government has proposed to increase the number of seats in the House to 850, with 815 seats proposed for the States and the remaining 35 for the Union Territories.