Women’s reservation Bill defeated in Lok Sabha, fails to get 2/3rd majority
This is the first time in 12 years that a constitutional amendment bill introduced by the Modi government has fallen.
In the first major legislative loss for the Modi government since it came to power in 2014, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeking to advance reservation of 33% seats for women in an expanded Lok Sabha and state Assemblies and facilitate delimitation of constituencies, was defeated in Lok Sabha Friday evening.
Of the 528 members present in the House, 298 voted in favour of the Bill and 230 opposed it, the result well short of the two-thirds majority needed for a Constitutional amendment Bill to clear the House.
The amended women’s quota Bill — the 2023 women’s reservation law still stands – was put to vote after a marathon two-day debate during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah urged members to support the proposed legislation, and cautioned the Opposition that women of the country were watching their intent and would not forgive them if they were denied reservation.
The Opposition, in turn, accused the government of using the women’s reservation issue to push for a delimitation exercise to help the BJP by redrawing the country’s electoral map and adversely impacting the representation of southern states in Lok Sabha.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused the government of using “an unconstitutional trick in the name of women to break the Constitution”.
Following the defeat of the women’s quota Bill, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju told the Lok Sabha Speaker not to take up the two other Bills – on delimitation and Union Territories – since these were linked to the Constitutional (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026.
Earlier, replying to the debate on the three Bills, Shah accused the Opposition of making excuses with the intent of blocking women’s reservation.
And hours before, Modi, in a post on X, said, “The Government has addressed all apprehensions and misconceptions relating to the legislation with facts and logic. All concerns have been addressed and any gaps in information have also been filled. For nearly four decades, this issue of women’s reservation in legislative bodies has been inordinately delayed. Now is the time to ensure that half of the nation’s population receives its rightful due in decision making.”
“I urge and appeal to all political parties to reflect carefully and take a sensitive decision by voting in favour of women’s reservation. On behalf of our Nari Shakti, I also request all members not to do anything that may hurt the sentiments of women across India. Crores of women are watching us…our intent and our decisions,” he said.
Earlier, the government sought to strategise how to get the Bill carried, but decided to go ahead with voting after failing to convince the Opposition which remained united against the Bill. Sources said attempts were made to reach out to the Samajwadi Party and some other Opposition parties during the day in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the Bills, but these efforts were unsuccessful.
A meeting of key BJP leaders and ministers was also held by Shah in Parliament to deliberate on the strategy. “We don’t have the numbers. Let the Opposition defeat the Bills. They will have to answer to the people,” a senior BJP leader said.
A minister said the party was planning to “go to the people” by 6 pm. Indicating the possible strategy, an NDA leader said the idea was to let the Bills get defeated and go after the Opposition over the issue of women’s rights.
“The Opposition appears united. They do not want to let the Bills pass. In such a situation, we have no option but to become martyrs. As of now, there is no indication of the Bills being withdrawn. That would look bad. The defeat of the Bills can be weaponised politically against the Opposition,” the leader said.
A senior Opposition leader confirmed that overtures were made to some parties, but the Opposition stood united. “It has been decided that delimitation needs to be deferred. So there is no question of agreeing to these Bills even if the promise of proportionality and pro-rata distribution of increased seats among states (in the delimitation Bill) is believed and accepted. We know why they want delimitation,” a senior Opposition leader said.
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In the first major legislative loss for the Modi government since it came to power in 2014, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeking to advance reservation of 33% seats for women in an expanded Lok Sabha and state Assemblies and facilitate delimitation of constituencies, was defeated in Lok Sabha Friday evening.
Of the 528 members present in the House, 298 voted in favour of the Bill and 230 opposed it, the result well short of the two-thirds majority needed for a Constitutional amendment Bill to clear the House.
The amended women’s quota Bill — the 2023 women’s reservation law still stands – was put to vote after a marathon two-day debate during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah urged members to support the proposed legislation, and cautioned the Opposition that women of the country were watching their intent and would not forgive them if they were denied reservation.
The Opposition, in turn, accused the government of using the women’s reservation issue to push for a delimitation exercise to help the BJP by redrawing the country’s electoral map and adversely impacting the representation of southern states in Lok Sabha.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused the government of using “an unconstitutional trick in the name of women to break the Constitution”.
Following the defeat of the women’s quota Bill, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju told the Lok Sabha Speaker not to take up the two other Bills – on delimitation and Union Territories – since these were linked to the Constitutional (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026.
Earlier, replying to the debate on the three Bills, Shah accused the Opposition of making excuses with the intent of blocking women’s reservation.
And hours before, Modi, in a post on X, said, “The Government has addressed all apprehensions and misconceptions relating to the legislation with facts and logic. All concerns have been addressed and any gaps in information have also been filled. For nearly four decades, this issue of women’s reservation in legislative bodies has been inordinately delayed. Now is the time to ensure that half of the nation’s population receives its rightful due in decision making.”
“I urge and appeal to all political parties to reflect carefully and take a sensitive decision by voting in favour of women’s reservation. On behalf of our Nari Shakti, I also request all members not to do anything that may hurt the sentiments of women across India. Crores of women are watching us…our intent and our decisions,” he said.
Earlier, the government sought to strategise how to get the Bill carried, but decided to go ahead with voting after failing to convince the Opposition which remained united against the Bill. Sources said attempts were made to reach out to the Samajwadi Party and some other Opposition parties during the day in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the Bills, but these efforts were unsuccessful.
A meeting of key BJP leaders and ministers was also held by Shah in Parliament to deliberate on the strategy. “We don’t have the numbers. Let the Opposition defeat the Bills. They will have to answer to the people,” a senior BJP leader said.
A minister said the party was planning to “go to the people” by 6 pm. Indicating the possible strategy, an NDA leader said the idea was to let the Bills get defeated and go after the Opposition over the issue of women’s rights.
“The Opposition appears united. They do not want to let the Bills pass. In such a situation, we have no option but to become martyrs. As of now, there is no indication of the Bills being withdrawn. That would look bad. The defeat of the Bills can be weaponised politically against the Opposition,” the leader said.
A senior Opposition leader confirmed that overtures were made to some parties, but the Opposition stood united. “It has been decided that delimitation needs to be deferred. So there is no question of agreeing to these Bills even if the promise of proportionality and pro-rata distribution of increased seats among states (in the delimitation Bill) is believed and accepted. We know why they want delimitation,” a senior Opposition leader said.
