Constitution Amendment Bill on Women's Reservation and Lok Sabha Expansion Fails to Pass, Falls Short of Two-Thirds Majority

 The Lok Sabha on Friday witnessed a significant legislative defeat for the government as the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which sought to expand the size of the House and operationalise the long-promised one-third reservation for women in legislatures, failed to secure the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment.

The Bill received 298 votes in favour and 230 against, falling well short of the 352-vote threshold needed to pass.

What the Bill Proposed

The Bill was ambitious in scope. It proposed expanding the Lok Sabha's strength from the current 543 seats to 850 — a move tied to a long-delayed delimitation exercise that would redraw electoral boundaries based on updated population data.

Alongside the seat expansion, the Bill aimed to operationalise the 33 percent quota for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies — a reform that had been committed to but deferred until after the next delimitation exercise under the Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhiniyam passed in 2023. 

Also Read: Women’s Reservation Bill will transform India’s political governance landscape: Pema Khandu

Government's Case for the Bill

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah both made strong cases for the Bill during two days of heated debate.

Shah accused the Congress of historically blocking delimitation and argued that the party was once again denying citizens fair representation. He insisted that linking women's reservation to delimitation was the only equitable path forward, warning that women across the country would closely watch how the opposition voted.

Opposition's Counter-Arguments

Opposition parties countered that the Bill was less about women's empowerment and more about a political manoeuvre designed to benefit northern states with higher population growth at the expense of southern states that have successfully stabilised their demographics.

They argued that the proposed seat expansion would tilt the balance of parliamentary power heavily in favour of states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, marginalising southern states that have performed better on population control.

Two Related Bills Also Off the Table

The defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill also effectively shelved two related proposals — a Delimitation Bill and an amendment extending the women's quota to Union Territories.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju confirmed that the government would not move forward with either proposal following the setback.

What the Defeat Means

For the Modi government, the outcome represents a rare reversal in its legislative record. For the opposition, it is a moment of political triumph in resisting what they described as a loaded and partisan exercise.

But for women aspiring to enter legislatures across India, the defeat extends an already long wait for guaranteed representation. While the constitutional framework for the 33 percent quota was laid in 2023, its implementation was tied to delimitation — and with this vote, that timeline has been pushed further into uncertainty, leaving one of the most consequential reforms of recent years in limbo.