New Delhi [India], July 18 (ANI): Independent Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday met Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi and held a discussion on the upcoming Parliament Session as well as on the Delimitation Bill.
According to sources, Mallikarjun Kharge has invited Kapil Sibal to the Parliament opposition leaders’ strategy meeting scheduled on July 20.
Sibal had also attended the INDIA bloc meetings in June and April.
Kapil Sibal quit the Congress in 2022 after a long association with the party. He has also held several ministerial portfolios under the two UPA governments at the Centre.
The key meeting comes amid the speculations of the Centre bringing back the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which proposes an increase in the number of seats in the Lok Sabha up to 850 and implementing the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in legislatures. The Bill was defeated after gaining 298 votes in April.
The leaders of Opposition parties in both Houses will meet on July 20 (Monday), the opening day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, to chalk out a joint strategy for the session.
In an X post today, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that the defeat of the Delimitation Bill in April has cast a “long shadow” on the NDA camp.
Ramesh’s remarks followed the Joint Parliamentary Committee’s decision to defer its report on the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025; the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The Congress leader posted, “Just two days before the Monsoon session of Parliament begins, two JPCs on very controversial Bills – one of which requires Constitutional amendments and the other of which is a clear case of Constitutional over-reach – have put off adopting their reports. The humiliation suffered by the Modi Govt in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 2026, clearly has cast a long shadow that persists in spite of the Union Home Minister’s bluff, brag, and bluster.”
According to sources, the Centre is likely to bring the Delimitation Bill back, with attempts being made to remove apprehensions and assure a uniform 50 per cent increase in Lok Sabha seats in states.
The NDA is an inch closer to a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, after Speaker Om Birla on Saturday approved the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) rebel MPs with the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
This takes the Shiv Sena’s strength to 13, reducing UBT Sena to three members in the Lok Sabha.
20 MPs who broke away from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had also announced a merger with the regional party Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) in June.
Earlier, seven Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MPs had joined the BJP. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the BJP, currently holds 298 seats in the Lok Sabha, including the Speaker. In case the Speaker approves the merger between the TMC rebels and the NCPI, the NDA’s strength will stand at 318.
The two-thirds majority mark stands at 360 in the House of 540 members, with three seats currently vacant. (ANI)
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