Why did the Women’s Reservation Bill fail despite getting more votes in the Lok Sabha, know what next?

New Delhi . The Constitution Amendment Bill related to women’s reservation could not be passed in the Lok Sabha on Friday. During the division of votes on ‘Constitution (131st) Amendment Bill 2026’ in the House, 298 votes were cast in its favor and 230 against it. A total of 528 MPs were present in the House at the time of voting. In such a situation, the ruling party needed 352 votes to pass the bill. The government needed a two-thirds majority to pass the bill. Due to which the bill failed even after getting more votes.

For the first time in the last 12 years, an amendment bill has been defeated.

This is the first time in the last 12 years that a constitutional amendment bill of the Modi government has failed in the House. Voting took place in the Lok Sabha on Friday evening to give political rights to half the country’s population. The government tried everything possible to get this bill passed, but it fell short of the required figure of 352 votes to pass the bill by 54 votes. Of the total members present 352, 230 votes were cast against the bill and the story ended here.

Opposition missed a historic opportunity: Rijiju

Kiren Rijiju termed the failure of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the House as unfortunate and said that the opportunity has been missed. Rijiju said that this was a historic and important bill related to giving respect and rights to women. This result has come on this basis. The opposition did not support this. It is very regrettable. You missed a historic opportunity. Our campaign to give respect and rights to women will continue and we will continue to provide them rights.

Why was there no voting on the remaining two bills?

Along with this bill, the government had also placed ‘Delimitation Bill, 2026’ and ‘Union Territory Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026’ in the House for discussion and passing, but they too could not be taken forward. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that after the Constitution Amendment Bill has not been passed, both the related bills ‘Delimitation Bill, 2026’ and ‘Union Territory Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026’ cannot be taken forward.

What was the proposal in the bill?

Under the Constitution Amendment Bill, there was a proposal to increase the Lok Sabha seats from 543 to a maximum of 850 after delimitation based on the 2011 census. Also included was a plan to implement 33 percent reservation for women before the 2029 general elections. Apart from this, a provision was also made to increase seats for women in the Legislative Assemblies of States and Union Territories, so that reservation can be implemented effectively.

Why is the opposition angry?

In this whole matter, another big issue regarding delimitation also came to the fore. The government wanted women’s reservation to be implemented by reallocating Lok Sabha seats, while the opposition opposed it. The opposition argued that through delimitation, some states may benefit and some may suffer loss, hence it would not be appropriate to implement it immediately. The opposition united on this issue and the bill could not get sufficient support.