The Lok Sabha has rejected a Constitution amendment bill to expand the size of the House and fast-track 33% reservation for women, marking the first defeat of a government bill since 2014.
The 131st Constitution amendment bill, which sought to raise the Lok Sabha ceiling to 850 and implement 33% reservation for women in time for the 2029 polls, was defeated by a united Opposition that didn't waiver despite a dramatic last-minute offer by Union home minister Amit Shah to incorporate a 50% proportional rise for all states into the bill.
The final tally in the Lok Sabha was 298-230, indicating that both camps garnered their maximum strength. The Opposition needed a minimum of 181 votes to defeat the bill.
The government withdrew two other linked bills – one mandating delimitation on the basis of the latest available census, effectively the 2011 one, and another implementing the changes in Union Territories – shortly afterwards.
The 2023 women's reservation act still stands and was notified by the government in the gazette on Thursday night. If the law is to be implemented, the government will still have to bring a delimitation bill, as the 2023 act links the quota to the delimitation exercise.
