The Opposition INDIA bloc is showing signs of internal division over the proposed Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, with member parties holding sharply different positions ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning 20 July. The Bill, which links the delimitation of constituencies with women's reservation in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, had already failed to pass during the Budget Session in April.

Congress: Opposed to Power Grab, Not Delimitation

Congress leader Nana Patole sought to clarify his party's stance, pushing back against what he described as misrepresentation. “False rumours are being spread about us. Our opposition is that the central government, under the guise of delimitation, wants to seize all power and decide the number of MPs and MLAs,” he said.

Patole further argued that the delimitation provision already exists in the Constitution and the Congress has no objection to it in principle. He also raised a sequencing concern: “The government should have implemented that Bill in 2024, but now they are proposing the 50 per cent Reservation Bill, which we also don’t oppose, but the 2023 Bill should have been implemented first.”

NCP-SP Urges Caution, Withholds Comment

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) MP Supriya Sule declined to take a position, citing the Bill’s unintroduced status. “There is no clarity on the matter at the moment. Since the Bill has not been introduced yet, how can anyone comment on it? Let the Bill be presented first. We will read it and then express our views,” she said.

Sule’s measured response contrasts with the sharper opposition voiced by some Congress colleagues, underlining the bloc’s uneven internal consensus.

Congress MP Flags Regional Concerns

Congress MP Jothimani took a more combative line, describing the Bill as “against the southern states, the northeastern states, Kashmir, and Punjab.” She insisted that the delimitation exercise and the Women’s Reservation Bill are separate matters. “This government is masquerading this Bill as the Women’s Reservation Bill and trying to manipulate things,” she said, calling on allies including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to stand with the Congress as they had previously.

RJD Calls It a Sensitive Issue, Demands 2023 Bill First

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav described delimitation as a “very sensitive issue,” noting that sentiments in southern and northern India differ significantly. He echoed the sequencing argument: the government should first implement the Women’s Reservation Bill passed in 2023 on the basis of existing seats before introducing fresh delimitation. “The government does not want to implement it. Instead, it wants to keep the issue pending,” he said.

What Happens Next

With the Monsoon Session set to open on 20 July, the Bill’s fate will depend on whether the government formally introduces it and whether the INDIA bloc can consolidate a unified opposition. Notably, internal disagreements — between Congress’s principled opposition, NCP-SP’s wait-and-watch approach, and regional parties’ specific concerns — could complicate coordinated resistance. The outcome will also test whether southern-state anxieties over seat redistribution can be channelled into a coherent political front.