Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday took an exception to parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju replying to his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused the PM of insulting Opposition leaders by not writing back to them directly.
“He [Rijiju] has not been given that much power. He is being used as a front, just as they are using Gyanesh Kumar. Similarly, they are using Rijiju. He [PM Modi] does not reply to anyone himself. We write to him, and he gets someone else to draft the reply. What does this mean?” Kharge said during an interaction in Bengaluru.
“He (Modi) is insulting opposition leaders. He is insulting all the opposition parties, and why are they not coming? You should reply. You should take cognisance of what we say. Are you above the law? Are you above the Constitution? You are one MP among 543, and you are number one among them. That does not mean that you can do whatever you want,” Kharge added.
Kharge had written to Modi on October 16 to demand an all-party meeting regarding the government’s new delimitation proposals, and warned against rushing a Constitutional Amendment Bill (One Hundred and Thirty First Amendment Bill, 2026) without consultation. The government is pushing for the passage of the bill along with the delimitation bill to roll out 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, as well as expand the Lok Sabha.
In a detailed letter on Monday, Rijiju had written to Kharge over the government’s plan to again push the delimitation-related Constitution amendment bill, which could not be passed in April as the NDA could not muster two-third majority in the House.
Rijiju had said there was no impropriety or irregularity in Parliament not being prorogued since the monsoon session ended in August as there was “no constitutional requirement” prescribing a specific period within which a House must be prorogued following its adjournment sine die.
Tthe minister also said that he had reached out to the Congress unsuccessfully and added that consultations were held with a number of other opposition parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Samajwadi Party.
In his October 16 letter, Kharge had also reiterated that the law introduced by the Modi government in 2023, which grants legal protection to the Election Commissioner and immunity, should be repealed.
“All the irregularities that have occurred so far have been through Gyanesh Kumar. The question is—why did the government grant him such immunity? If the Modi government wants fair elections, it must adhere to the constitutional framework, remove Gyanesh Kumar, and overhaul the entire system,” Kharge said, reiterating the demand that ballot papers must replace the EVM system.