Congress Questions Delay in Parliament Prorogation, Asks About Delimitation Bill Plans

The Congress on Sunday questioned the prolonged delay in proroguing the Monsoon session of Parliament, asking whether Union Home Minister Amit Shah is still in search of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the delimitation-linked Constitutional Amendment Bill in a special session.

Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die on August 13. Ten days later, there has been no announcement of the prorogation, which typically occurs within two to four days after adjournment, though the gap has occasionally been longer.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on social media that the delay was unusual. "It is true that the gap for the Monsoon session in 2015 was 28 days and in 2021 it was 20 days. But there were no diabolical moves afoot then. What explains the abnormal delay now?" he asked, adding: "Is the Union Home Minister still in search of his tainted 2/3rd majority to get the Constitutional Amendment Bill on Delimitation passed in a Special Session?"

Ramesh also shared excerpts from the book "Practice and Procedure of Parliament" by M.N. Kaul and S.L. Shakdher to explain the process. According to the text, prorogation is the termination of a session by an order of the President under Article 85(2) of the Constitution. The President acts on the advice of the Prime Minister.

"Prorogation of the House may take place any time, even while the House is sitting. Usually, however, prorogation follows the adjournment of the sitting of the House sine die," the book states.

Earlier, Congress leaders had claimed that the opposition's resistance prevented the government from bringing the delimitation bill during the session. Ramesh had said after the adjournment that the government lacks a two-thirds majority and "will never get it."

The issue of delimitation has been a contentious one. The Congress has recently called for freezing the current strength of the Lok Sabha at 543 seats for the next 25 years, while demanding that the 33 per cent reservation for women be implemented from the 2029 general elections.

After a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) last week, Ramesh told reporters that the party wants the existing seat allocation among states to remain unchanged for 25 years. The CWC adopted a resolution reaffirming its support for women's reservation without altering the current number of seats.

"The Congress Working Committee reinforces its demand that the constitutional freeze on the current strength of the Lok Sabha and its present allocation among the states be extended for the next 25 years, while one-third reservation for women be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections itself," the resolution said.

The debate over delimitation is expected to intensify as the government explores options to move forward. The delay in prorogation has led to speculation about a possible special session to consider the bill, though no official announcement has been made.

As of now, neither the government nor the Union Home Minister has responded to the Congress's remarks. The procedural question of when Parliament will be formally prorogued remains open, with the inter-session period traditionally used for preparatory work ahead of the next session.