Freeze 543 LS seats for 25 Years, Kharge tells Modi

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to share the government’s delimitation proposals with all political parties and called for the Lok Sabha’s existing strength of 543, as well as the present state-wise allocation of seats, to be frozen for another 25 years. He also demanded that one-third reservation for women be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

In a letter to Modi, Kharge sought an all-party meeting on the delimitation proposals and adequate time for political parties and state governments to study them before the government moved ahead with the exercise.

“I had last written to you on July 16, 2026 requesting you to convene an All-Party meeting for discussing the Government’s proposals for delimitation,” Kharge said.

He said he had also asked the Prime Minister to give political parties adequate time to study the proposals before they were introduced in any special session of Parliament that the government might be contemplating.

Kharge said he was reiterating the demand after Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju indicated in a television interview that another sitting of Parliament could be convened. He said this could also explain the continued delay in proroguing the Monsoon Session.

Kharge said the Congress was “very clear” on its position: maintain the Lok Sabha’s existing strength of 543 for another 25 years; maintain the existing state-wise strength in the House for another 25 years; and introduce one-third reservation for women from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

“Before you go ahead as indicated by the Union minister of parliamentary affairs, I wish to reiterate my earlier request to you to — convene an all-party meeting to discuss whatever delimitation proposals you have in mind; give all political parties and state governments adequate time to study such proposals,” Kharge said.

Calling delimitation an issue of “enormous significance for the country”, he cautioned the Centre against proceeding without wider consultation.

“Please do not again try and bulldoze as you attempted on April 16 and 17, 2026,” Kharge said.

The demand comes amid renewed speculation over another sitting of Parliament after Rijiju left open the possibility in an interview on Wednesday. The Monsoon Session has not yet been formally prorogued, which means Parliament could be summoned again without formally closing the existing session.

The Congress has made the demands earlier as well. The Congress Working Committee earlier this month reiterated its call for retaining both the Lok Sabha’s strength of 543 and the existing state-wise allocation for another 25 years, while implementing 33 per cent reservation for women from 2029.

The delimitation issue has assumed political significance after the government suffered a setback during the Budget Session on April 17, when a Constitution amendment Bill linked to delimitation and implementation of women’s reservation failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. Of the 528 MPs who voted, 298 supported the Bill and 230 opposed it, while 352 votes were required for passage.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor backed Kharge’s demand on Thursday and stressed that state governments must be consulted as they were “vital stakeholders” in the exercise. He recalled that during the parliamentary debate in April, he had sought a “grand national consultation” before a decision on delimitation.