This is the first time a bill under the Narendra Modi government has been defeated in Parliament
NEW DELHI, April 17: In a massive setback to the BJP-led NDA Government, a Constitution Amendment Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated on Friday, with the ruling dispensation asserting that the struggle to give the rights to women will continue.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to 816 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi were among those present during the voting.
This was for the first time a bill under the Modi government was defeated in Parliament.
After the legislation was defeated during the voting, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House for the day and announced that it would meet again on Saturday.
The three-day special sitting was convened from April 16 to 18 for getting the Parliament’s approval to the bill.
When the Constitution Amendment Bill was defeated, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju conveyed to the Speaker that the government has no intention to move ahead with the two other bills — the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill — as both the legislations were interlinked with the Constitution Amendment Bill.
Rijiju said the Opposition lost a historic opportunity to honour the country’s women but the Modi government’s struggle to give rights to women will continue.
“We will not take rest till we ensure that the country’s women get reservation in legislatures,” he said.
Later, Rijiju told reporters that Congress is an “anti-women” party and the country’s women will never forgive them.
“The Congress celebrated after the bill was defeated which clearly shows that it is an anti-women party,” he said.
After the bill was defeated, Union Home Minister Amit Shah blamed Congress, TMC, DMK, and Samajwadi Party for not allowing its passage.
He said after the bill was defeated, the opposition parties were celebrating and raising victory cries which is beyond imagination and condemnable.
“Now, the women of the country will not get the 33 per cent reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, which was their right. The Congress and its allies have done this not for the first time, but repeatedly. Their mindset is neither in the interest of women nor of the country,” he said in a post on X in Hindi.
Earlier, while participating in the debate, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the Constitution amendment bill has nothing to do with women’s reservation and is instead an attempt to change the country’s electoral map to retain power — a “shameful act”.
Gandhi said the proposal does not address women’s empowerment.
“This (bill) is an attempt to change the country’s electoral map, using and hiding behind India’s women,” he said. (PTI)
