Rijiju reaches out to Rahul Gandhi, seeks support for delimitation bill

New Delhi: The government on Thursday reached out to the Opposition, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju speaking to Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over the phone to seek support for the reintroduction of the delimitation bill. Sources said that Rijiju focused on bridging the gap on the issue, marking his third effort to discuss the issue with Rahul Gandhi during the Monsoon Session. Rijiju tried to seek support for the delimitation bill, insisting that the Opposition’s support for its early re-introduction would speed up the implementation of the women's reservation, said sources. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 had earlier failed to pass through the Lok Sabha during the Budget session in April. On Thursday, Rijiju told Rahul Gandhi that if women's reservation is not implemented it would lead to resentment among women, according to sources. During the telephonic talk with Rijiju, Rahul Gandhi remained non-committal and sought more time to discuss the delimitation bill issue with Congress allies and INDIA bloc constituents, sources said. Gandhi reportedly said that the government’s attempt to seek Opposition support on the delimitation bill will be discussed in detail with allies and a clear stand on the issue would be conveyed thereafter. On Wednesday, Congress MP K.C. Venugopal reiterated that the Congress party's position on the proposed Delimitation Bill remains unchanged. Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Venugopal said: "Union Minister Kiren Rijiju wanted to know the Opposition's position. There are rumours that he spoke about delimitation and that we suggested we would come back with a response, but there is nothing like that.” “Our stand is very clear. Whatever position we took during the last Parliament session, we continue to maintain the same stand. There has been no change," he said. Earlier in April, Congress MP Manish Tewari had said that the Opposition put up stiff resistance to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 and defeated it in the Lok Sabha because of pressing concerns that it was being used as a cover to alter the political and demographical map of the country, under the guise of women's reservation. He had stated that the Opposition remains open to supporting women's reservation if it is implemented within the existing framework of parliamentary seats. Ahead of the Monsoon Session, the Opposition INDIA bloc appeared divided over the proposed Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, that previously linked the delimitation exercise with women's reservation in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.

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