Congress calls govt’s special session ‘poll-driven’, alleges MCC violation

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday termed the government’s decision to convene a special session of Parliament on April 16–18 a “clear violation” of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), alleging that its timing—when electioneering in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal will be at its peak—was aimed at conferring an electoral advantage on the ruling party.

Party general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said the opposition had unanimously urged the government on March 24 to hold consultations on the Women’s Reservation Bill only after April 29, once the five State Assembly elections conclude. “The BJP now wants to take double advantage of women’s reservation,” he said, describing the hastily convened session as, in effect, an “electoral session.”

Ramesh also said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had twice written to Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge seeking a separate meeting on proposed constitutional amendments linked to the Bill. Kharge, he said, responded by urging the government to convene an all-party meeting instead—a position endorsed by the entire opposition.

The Women’s Reservation Bill, passed in September 2023, is tied to a fresh delimitation exercise for its implementation. Questioning the urgency, Ramesh noted that the census data required for delimitation may not be available until 2027 at the earliest.

He also flagged reports suggesting that the special session could take up amendments to Articles 81 and 82 of the Constitution to increase parliamentary and assembly seats by 50 per cent. Such a move, he warned, if undertaken without adequate deliberation, could place southern and north-western States at a structural disadvantage.