Three bills to amend the Women’s Quota Act were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, April 16. These are the Draft Law on the Constitution (131st Amendment), the Draft Law on Delimitation and the Law on Union Territory Laws (amendment).
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill seeks to amend six articles, including one that expands the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850, and removes the provision that mandates delimitation after every census.
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The bills, which the opposition condemned as a “scam” and “political demonetisation”, were tabled after a 40-minute debate on Thursday. After a fiery debate, the opposition pushed for a split vote to introduce the constitutional (131st amendment) bill.
The bill was later introduced with 251 members supporting it and 185 members voting against its introduction.
But the big question is: Will these bills be passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, given the strong opposition protests against them? Here’s an overview of the numbers in Parliament.
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Lok Sabha
The current effective strength of the Lok Sabha is 540. The government needs a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha to pass these three bills. This means that all members are present when voting; At least 360 MPs must vote for the proposal to be approved in parliament.
Now, here are the NDA and Opposition numbers:
1. The NDA has 293 members
BJP: 240 MPs
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2. The opposition has 234 deputies
Congress: 99 MPs
Trinamool Congress: 28 MPs
How many ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ for three bills?
Up to 360 MPs need to vote for the bill, but the government (293) does not have the absolute numbers to pass the bill in the Lok Sabha. The NDA falls short of the 67 votes needed for a one-third majority. Meanwhile, more than 230 opposition MPs have said they will oppose the laws.
Besides, seven independent MPs and seven MPs who belong to parties like YSRCP, AIMIM and Shiromani Akali Dal are yet to openly support the bills.
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Earlier in the day, the bills were introduced after the opposition demanded a split vote to introduce the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill. It was supported by 251 MPs and 185 MPs voted against the introduction of the law.
There are several scenarios in which a bill can be passed in the Lok Sabha:
1. The bills, including the constitutional amendment bill, could get approval from the Lok Sabha if at least two main opposition parties from the Samajwadi Party, the Trinamool Congress or the DMK, had to abstain.
2. If there is cross-party support, meaning any of the opposition or independent members, vote in favor of the NDA and to pass the bill.
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Rajya Sabha
In the Rajya Sabha, the NDA has 141 members in its favour, which is 58 per cent of the upper house, and the opposition has 83 MPs in its favour.
While BJP has 107 MPs in Rajya Sabha, Congress has 28, TMC 13, AAP 10 and DMK 8. Parties like BRS, YSRCP, BJD and BSP and independents have 20 MPs in the upper house and their votes can help swing the decision.
According to PTI, for the Constitution Amendment Bill to pass in the upper house, the NDA needs the support of 163 MPs to be present and vote, which is a two-thirds majority in the House.
