Kharge writes to PM Modi, seeks all-party meeting to discuss new bills

New Delhi, October 16 (IANS) Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking an all-party meeting to discuss bills and other proposals.Highlighting that the Constitutional Amendment Bill on Delimitation failed to muster the necessary two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 2026, by a decisive margin, Kharge wrote, “Please convene an all-party meeting to have a detailed discussion on your new proposals before they are finalised for consideration in Parliament.”The LoP said, “All political parties must get sufficient time to deliberate among themselves, with each other and with all other stakeholders. Please do not once again try and bulldoze a far-reaching Constitutional Amendment Bill through Parliament as you attempted earlier and that met its well-deserved fate.”Kharge said, “You may kindly recall that I had first written to you on April 11, 2026 to convene an all-party meeting before bringing any Constitutional Amendment Bill on Delimitation. You did not do so. Thereafter, you made the Bills public on the late evening of April 14, 2026 and convened a special session on April 16, 2026.”“Thereafter, on July 16, 2026 and August 27, 2026, I again repeated my request for an all-party meeting. I am now doing so for a fourth time,” wrote Khare.The Congress President also expressed concern over the fact that both Houses of Parliament are yet to be prorogued since the adjournment in August.“It has already been 64 days since the Monsoon Session of Parliament was adjourned on August 13, 2026, and both Houses of Parliament are yet to be prorogued. This scenario is unprecedented,” said Kharge.The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 — along with the companion Delimitation Bill, 2026 and Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — was introduced in the Lok Sabha on April 16 by Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, but failed to pass after being rejected in the Lok Sabha on April 17.