Does govt plan to introduce a fresh proposal on delimitation, asks Cong - Congress on Tuesday asked government whether it had a fresh proposal on delimitation, and why it was stubbornly refusing to convene all-party meeting.
In post on social media platform X, party's communications chief Jairam Ramesh questioned whether Centre intended to revive Constitution Amendment Bill that was defeated in Lok Sabha in April. He was responding to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene all-party meeting before bringing any fresh delimitation proposal to Parliament. Ramesh claimed Union Home Minister Amit Shah's consultations with select political parties in March had resulted in commitments that were not incorporated into Constitution Amendment Bill taken up April 16. Bill was defeated in Lok Sabha on April 17.
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Does Modi Government have firm NEW proposal for delimitation that it has discussed with any party?" he asked. He questioned why government was refusing to present its NEW proposal and hear views of all parties in collective forum. His third question whether Centre intended to bring back defeated Bill and try to secure its passage with super-tainted two-thirds majority. "That will no doubt fail again," he said.
In letter to Kharge on Monday, Rijiju said he had written to Kharge on March 16 and April 12, and also discussed matter with him personally. "However, after repeated requests, Congress didn't give dates for discussion, after which government's outreach had extended to other political parties," Minister wrote. He questioned why demand for consultations being repeated when government had already made sustained efforts for dialogue. Responding to Kharge's objection that Parliament had not been prorogued 64 days after adjourned sine die on August 13, Rijiju said there was no constitutional requirement prescribing specific period within which House must be prorogued.
CPI(M) flags concern over Census Rules in letter to President - Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M.A. Baby urged President Droupadi Murmu to intervene and ask Centre to withdraw amendments to Census Rules that allow hiring of private individuals as census enumerators, warning such tweak could lead to arbitrary and politically motivated appointments. Amended rules allow teachers from aided and unaided private educational institutions, employees of institutions, societies and trusts, as well as officials and clerical staff of public sector undertakings, statutory bodies, banks and companies to be deployed for Census work. They also empower state governments and UT administrations to appoint any person they consider suitable. In letter, Baby said it raises serious questions about criteria for selection, impartiality of those appointed, and safeguards against partisan interference. Discretion granted to State governments and UT administrations without clearly specified criteria or publicly accountable safeguards creates considerable scope for arbitrary and politically motivated appointments. Baby also expressed concern over information sought in Census questionnaire. He said it must not become another SIR and be turned into instrument of surveillance, citizenship determination or electoral exclusion.
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Analytically, delimitation is next big federal flashpoint after SIR. South fears loss of seats if based on population. Centre's private enumerator rule for Census raises fears of partisan data collection, especially when SIR already uses census-type verification. Both need all-party consensus, not selective consultation.
Tags: #Delimitation #JairamRamesh #KirenRijiju #CensusRules #CPIM #AlIPartyMeeting #Federalism #AmitShah #MallikarjunKharge #Census2026