Overview
- The Monsoon session has remained unprorogued for 88 days, a new record that surpasses the 87-day gap in 2008, leaving both Houses formally open as of Monday.
- Keeping the session open lets the government call an extended or special sitting with just two days’ notice instead of the 14 days required to summon a fresh session.
- Reporters and analysts link the procedural move to plans to reintroduce a constitutional amendment to implement women’s reservation by expanding Lok Sabha seats through delimitation, a measure that previously failed to get the required support at a special sitting on April 17.
- Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge has written to the prime minister seeking an all-party meeting about delimitation, while several southern states and opposition parties have warned the exercise could harm federal balance and local representation.
- The Constitution sets no deadline for prorogation and past Parliaments have stayed unprorogued for long stretches, so the current gap is legally permitted but raises political stakes over timing, consultation and how changes to seat boundaries would affect voters.