Members vote on the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 2026. Photo: Sansad TV via PTI
A united opposition on Friday (April 17, 2026) defeated the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which sought to redistribute Lok Sabha seats based on the 2011 census to speed up the implementation of women’s reservation.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the opposition of “ruthless politics” and warned that it would face the “anger of women” voters. A total of 298 members voted in favor of the bill and 230 against, with the number of members of the House at the time of the vote being 528. It fell short of the two-thirds majority of 352 required for the constitutional amendment bill to pass. Following the defeat, the government withdrew two allied pieces of legislation – the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026 – which were linked to the constitutional amendment.
Published – 17 Apr 2026 20:02 IST
