The Centre is eyeing a special Parliament session to revive the women's reservation amendment, with sources expecting a 15 to 18 vote cushion.
It needs 361 votes in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, where three seats are vacant, after an earlier attempt failed there on April 17.
The move is tied to delimitation, which could lift the House to 850 seats and make room for 33 per cent reservation for women. No dates have been disclosed yet, and the aim is to have it in place before the 2029 polls.
The Monsoon session of Parliament has now gone 88 days without being formally closed, a new record. Both Houses adjourned on August 13 with no set return date.
Keeping the session open has fuelled talk of a short-notice sitting on a constitutional amendment tied to the Women's Reservation Bill, which would take the Lok Sabha from 543 seats to as many as 850.
An extra sitting needs only two days' notice, while a fresh session needs 14. A similar amendment fell short of the numbers in the Lok Sabha on April 17.
Rohtak Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra has objected to former BJP minister Manish Kumar Grover putting the National Emblem on his letterhead. Batra questioned which rules let former ministers use it after leaving office.
He says unauthorised use of the emblem attracts legal penalties and that he will write to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for clarity.
Grover hit back, saying Batra was distracting from public welfare. His own letter to the Speaker flagged neglected issues at a DISHA meeting chaired by Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has called for substantive discussions in Parliament, free of disruptions, ahead of the Winter session expected to start late this month or early next month.
Asked about the SIR electoral roll revision, he said the Business Advisory Committee will decide what gets taken up. He has also received no notice to impeach Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, though the opposition is demanding his resignation.
At a Public Accounts Committee conference, he stressed that budgeted money must be monitored to make sure it is used for its intended purpose.
News India Xtra@newsIndiaxtra
