Despite repeated disruptions washing out much of the Monsoon Session, the Narendra Modi government is preparing to push ahead with two of its most ambitious legislative proposals in a single package. Government sources told India Today that it is likely to convene a special session of Parliament soon after the Monsoon Session ends on August 13 to take up the Delimitation Bill and the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill.
However, Parliament may not be prorogued after the session ends, allowing the government to reconvene it at short notice. Sources said the Centre is working to secure the two-thirds majority required to pass the Constitutional Amendment Bill.
Once it has the necessary numbers, the government may call a special session to pass the legislation.
The Delimitation Bill, introduced alongside the Women’s Reservation Bill as part of the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill, failed to secure the required two-thirds special majority in the Lok Sabha during the three-day special session held in April.
At the time, the BJP-led NDA did not have the numbers needed in either House of Parliament. Since then, however, political changes have narrowed the gap to the special majority required to pass Constitutional Amendment Bills in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP’s position in both Houses was strengthened after the TMC’s rout in the West Bengal Assembly elections in May. The special majority threshold stands at 360 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 164 in the Rajya Sabha, and the distance to those numbers has reduced.
Following the same Assembly election results and MK Stalin’s fallout with his INDIA bloc ally, the Congress, the BJP has also been looking at the support of the DMK’s 22 Lok Sabha MPs to improve its chances of passing Constitutional Amendment Bills, which require a two-thirds special majority in both Houses of Parliament.
However, delimitation remains a political flashpoint in Tamil Nadu, and the DMK had itself campaigned strongly against the issue while in power. Against that backdrop, it remains unclear whether Stalin’s party would support the BJP on the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill.
– Ends
