New Delhi:- This is the first time in the 11 years of Modi government's rule that the government has failed to pass any bill in the House. Of the three amendment bills of the Constitution related to women's reservation, the most important 'Constitution (131st) Amendment Bill 2026' was not passed in the Lok Sabha. Through this bill, there was a proposal to increase the seats of the House to 850. During the voting, 298 votes were cast in favor of the bill and 230 against it. A two-thirds majority (352 votes) was required for a constitutional amendment, but the government fell short of the required figure by 54 votes.
After the bill fell, the government refused to hold a vote on the remaining two bills, the Delimitation Amendment Bill and the Union Territories Laws Amendment Bill. Before the voting, Home Minister Amit Shah had warned the opposition in an hour-long speech that if these bills are not passed, then the entire responsibility will be on the opposition. He said that the women of the country are seeing who is obstructing their rights. After a long debate that lasted 21 hours, this result has created a big stir in political circles.
Home Minister Amit Shah today defended the government's side on the amendments related to the Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha. He surrounded the opposition and said that those who are opposing the increase in seats are actually also standing against the increase in seats for backward classes. Shah said in a strong tone that the government is fully ready to give political rights to women but the opposition is only creating obstacles.
During the debate, Congress MP K.C. Venugopal had made two demands: first, an official amendment should be brought to increase 50% seats and second, the delimitation bill should be removed. To this, Amit Shah immediately replied, "I am ready, Speaker sir, give me an hour, I will come with an amendment."
However, he rejected the condition of removing the delimitation, saying that the opposition wants to hang the bill again on this pretext. He said that if the opposition does not get the vote, the bill will be stalled, for which the women of the country will have to answer to the opposition.
'It was an attack on the Constitution, which we defeated' - Rahul Gandhi
After the defeat of the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has reacted.
Terming the failure of the bill in the House as a big victory for the opposition, he said that the law is a direct attack on the Constitution of India - an attack that they have successfully defeated. Questioning the government's intentions, Gandhi clarified that the opposition has already claimed that this was not a bill for women, but an attempt to change India's electoral structure.
After the bill's defeat in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi wrote on X: "The Amendment Bill has fallen. In the name of women - and to destroy the Constitution - they carried out an unconstitutional move. India saw it. India stopped it. Jai Samvidhan (Hail to the Constitution)."