Women’s Reservation-Constitution Amendment Bill Defeated in Lok Sabha
Out of the 528 members who participated, the proposed legislation needed at least 352 votes to pass, as mandated for constitutional amendments. However, 298 Members of Lok Sabha voted in its favour and 230 MPs voted against it.
A Constitution Amendment Bill proposing to operationalise women’s reservation in legislatures by 2029, along with a substantial increase in the strength of the Lok Sabha, was defeated in the Lower House on Friday after failing to secure the required two-thirds majority.
The Bill received support from 298 Members of Parliament, while 230 MPs voted against it. Out of the 528 members who participated, the proposed legislation needed at least 352 votes to pass, as mandated for constitutional amendments.
The proposed amendment sought to pave the way for the implementation of women’s reservation in Parliament ahead of the 2029 general elections. A key provision included expanding the strength of the Lok Sabha from the current 543 seats to a maximum of 850 seats. The increase was intended to facilitate the reservation framework without reducing existing representation.
The Bill also proposed a wider restructuring of parliamentary representation through a fresh delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census. This exercise would have redrawn constituency boundaries and increased the number of seats across states and Union Territories.
Supporters of the legislation argued that expanding the Lok Sabha was essential to ensure equitable implementation of women’s reservation while maintaining fair representation for different regions. However, critics raised concerns over the timing of the delimitation exercise, potential political implications for states with varying population growth rates, and the overall scale of the proposed expansion.
The defeat of the Bill marks a significant setback for efforts to synchronise women’s reservation with constituency reorganisation ahead of the 2029 polls. It also underscores the deep divisions among political parties over the modalities of implementing reservation and restructuring parliamentary representation.
With the amendment failing to pass, the path to implementing women’s reservation within the proposed timeline remains uncertain, and any future attempt will require broader political consensus in Parliament.
