The Lok Sabha on Friday failed to pass the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which sought to tweak the reservation law for old women and expand the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats.
The BJP-led NDA government failed to secure a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha to pass the bill, falling short by 62 votes. According to the numbers game, the NDA needed the support of 360 out of 540 MPs in the Lower House. However, only 298 MPs voted for the bill and 230 against.
As the Constitution Amendment Bill was not passed in the Lok Sabha, the government did not proceed to vote on the other two bills – the Union Territory Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026.
“…no further action will now be taken on the Union Territory Legislative Amendment Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026, which were joined with the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026,” the government said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other NDA leaders have repeatedly appealed to the opposition to support the “empowerment of women” bill, but the opposition has opposed it, saying the constitutional amendment bill is not about women’s reservations but an “attempt to change India’s electoral map”.
Here are five reasons why the opposition opposed the bill — and a forceful response from Amit Shah.
NDA’s reservation for women in Lok Sabha fails: What next?
On Friday, the Lok Sabha rejected the Centre’s proposal to expand the strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats and allow delimitation of seats based on the 2011 census. The Union government wanted to implement these laws to improve the Women’s Reservation Act, which mandates 33 percent reservation for women.
The 2023 Act mandated a census and delimitation exercise before introducing 33 per cent women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. However, the three new bills sought to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats and remove the provision that mandated delimitation after each census.
Introducing the bill on Thursday, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said, “There will be an equal, 50% increase in the membership of the Lok Sabha, translating into 815 seats, of which 272 will be reserved for women, which is one-third of the strength of the House. No loss will come to anyone (states) and they will retain their strength.”
Now that the constitutional amendment failed to pass in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023 is in place, mandating 33% reservation for women.
The law is in force in its current form, which means that the 33 percent reservation still requires enumeration and delimitation to be done first.
“We are for women’s reservation. If the government implements the women’s reservation bill passed in 2023, the entire opposition will support it without exception,” said Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
