New Delhi, Oct. 16 -- Undeterred by the Opposition protests against SIR and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the Centre may go ahead with its plan to convene a special session of Parliament later this month to once again push the Bills related to delimitation and women's reservation, sources have indicated.

Sources said that the government appears confident of the numbers on the floor of the House and is likely to call a special session.

Amid indications regarding the government move, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to call an all-party meeting to discuss any new delimitation proposals, and cautioned him against any attempts to bulldoze a "far-reaching" Constitutional Amendment Bill.

In a letter to PM Modi, Kharge said it has already been 64 days since the Monsoon Session was adjourned sine die on August 13, and both Houses of Parliament are yet to be prorogued.

Terming the scenario unprecedented, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said he had first written to the prime minister on April 11 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, and convened a special session on April 16. The Constitutional Amendment Bill on delimitation failed to muster the necessary two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha on April 17 by a decisive margın," Kharge said.

"Thereafter, on July 16 and August 27, I wrote to you again repeating our request for an all-party meeting. I am now doing so for a fourth time. Please convene an all-party meeting to have a detailed discussion on your new proposals before they are finalised for consideration in Parliament," the Congress chief said.

"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.

During the Budget session on April 17, the Modi government faced a setback as the Constitution amendment bill, involving delimitation, for the implementation of the women's reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was defeated in the Lower House.

It is learnt that the BJP-led NDA government is in touch with the DMK, which has 22 MPs, to secure its support for the bills after the Dravidian party's divorce with the Congress after the Tamil Nadu elections. The DMK, which has been one of the fiercest opponents of delimitation, has since broken away from the INDIA bloc.

Sources said that the government is also in touch with some smaller parties to shore up its numbers.

The dates for the special session will be decided keeping in mind the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, which is set to take place at the 'Samvidhan Sadan' (Parliament House) on October 26-27.

Centre's efforts to bring the bills back in the Monsoon Session were washed away amid the Opposition's protest over NEET paper leak and crackdown on the student protest. The Monsoon Session of Parliament that ended on August 13 has not yet been prorogued.

A Constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority of members present and voting in both Houses. In the current House, the NDA has a majority but not the magical two-thirds figure of around 360 seats

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.