New Delhi: The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 which sought to increase the strength of the lower house of parliament from 543 to 850 seats and pave the way for delimitation to implement 33 percent reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies, was defeated in the Lok Sabha on April 17, following which the Union government withdrew the two associated bills – the Delimitation Bill, 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
The Bill failed to secure the mandatory two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment. Out of 528 members present and voting, 298 MPs voted in favour while 230 voted against it. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced the result, stating that the Bill did not get the required two-thirds majority.
This marks the first legislative defeat for the Modi government in the Lok Sabha in 12 years.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju expressed disappointment over the outcome. “It is unfortunate that the Opposition didn’t support the bill. The bill failed as the Opposition did not support such a historic bill,” Rijiju said. Since the other two related bills were interlinked with the constitutional amendment, they would not be taken up. “We’ll keep working for India’s women,” He said in a posted on X
The government had convened a three-day special session of Parliament and introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha on April 11, 2026. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal tabled the Bill.
“The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, 2026 provides that the one-third reservation of seats for women, including women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in the Lok Sabha, State Assemblies, Delhi Assembly, Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir Assemblies shall come into effect immediately after the exercise of delimitation is undertaken on the basis of the latest census,” the Bill stated.
It further noted that the proposed legislation would facilitate delimitation of territorial constituencies and operationalise the provisions for reservation of seats for women. “This will promote women empowerment and provide opportunity for women to participate in the nation-building process while helping achieve the goals of Viksit Bharat@2047,” it added.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the debate, Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly pitched for the Bill. “Those who oppose 33% reservation for women were never forgiven by the women of the country. It is the demand of the time that 50% of the country’s population becomes part of policy-making,” Modi said.
“The Bill was necessary to finally implement the women’s reservation law passed unanimously by Parliament in 2023, which is yet to come into force due to the pending delimitation exercise,” He added.
However, opposition parties, while claiming support for women’s reservation in principle, strongly opposed linking it with immediate delimitation based on the 2011 Census. They warned that the exercise could tilt the political balance in favour of the BJP, which draws significant support from the more populous northern states.
Congress leaders said the party fully supports women’s reservation. “Parliament passed this bill unanimously in 2023, which is now part of our Constitution. The proposal that the government is now bringing has no connection to women’s reservation. It is merely an attempt to seize power through delimitation and gerrymandering,” Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X.
Opposition parties also raised concerns over bypassing a caste census and potential injustice to OBC, Dalit, and Adivasi communities as well as to southern, northeastern, and smaller states. “Bypassing the data from the caste census, under no circumstances will we tolerate the ‘theft of shares’ from OBC, Dalit, and Adivasi communities. We will not allow injustice to the South, Northeast, Northwest, and smaller states at any cost,”Gandhi added.
Several MPs from southern states protested by wearing black attire in the House. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin burned a copy of the Bill and raised a black flag, urging people across the state to protest similarly.
The BJP pushed back against the allegations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the House that the delimitation process would be carried out “without any discrimination or injustice” to any state. “The government’s delimitation process will be carried out without any discrimination or injustice to any state, whether large or small, across all regions of the country,” Modi said.
Ratios followed in past delimitation exercises would remain unchanged and any future increase would be implemented in the same proportion. “I guarantee and promise fairness in the process. If there is a good word in Tamil, I am ready to use that too, because when the intent is clear, then we do not need to play with words,” Modi further said..
The government had proposed a uniform increase in seats and maintained that proportional representation would be protected. However, the draft Bill did not explicitly detail this mechanism, leaving room for opposition scepticism.
The Constitution mandates that seats in Parliament be allocated based on population and revised after each census. However, the last major readjustment was done on the basis of the 1971 Census, with successive governments freezing the process to avoid disrupting federal balance.
The government wanted to use the 2011 Census figures for the new delimitation, with the changes to take effect from the 2029 general elections. Opposition parties, on the other hand, demanded waiting for the ongoing fresh Census, whose data processing would take considerable time.
Following the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill, the government withdrew the two other linked legislations – the Delimitation Bill, 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
While there is broad agreement across parties on the need for greater women’s representation in legislatures, the sharp divide over the timing and basis of delimitation has once again highlighted deep regional and political fault lines in Indian federalism.
The defeat comes as a significant political setback for the Modi government, which had positioned the move as a landmark step towards women’s empowerment and Viksit Bharat.
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