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Women's quota bill fails to get two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha
While 298 members voted in favour of the government backing the bill, 230 members from the opposition voted against the proposed law.
The Constitution Amendment Bill to tweak Women's Reservation Bill was defeated in Lok Sabha after the government failed to get a special majority in the Parliament on Friday evening.
While 298 members voted in favour of the government backing the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 230 members from the opposition voted against the proposed law.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that the bill failed to get two-thirds majority in the house and adjourned the proceedings.
"The Constitution (131st Amendment) Amendment Bill did not pass as it did not achieve a 2/3 majority during voting in the House," Birla told the house.
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Two other bills, meant for delimitation and increasing the number of seats in the Lok Sabha, were not put to vote in the Lower House after the 131st Amendment Bill failed for get two-thirds majority. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced that the government would no longer pursue the two related pieces of legislation, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Delimitation Bill, 2026.
The voting in the Lok Sabha comes after two days of marathon debates, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other members spoke.
Also Read: Why the women's quota bill failed in the Lok Sabha despite more votes in favour | Explained
While the NDA camp, led by PM Modi, Shah and Kiren Rijiju argued in favour of the two-thirds reservation for women, the opposition members questioned the intention behind the law, with Rahul Gandhi saying it had “nothing to do with women empowerment”.
The defeat has triggered due to attempts by a united Opposition, with the Leader of Opposition in the Lower House, Rahul Gandhi, reaching out to TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee to consolidate votes against the motion.
BJP hits out at Oppn
The ruling BJP, led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah lashed out at the opposition and called the mandate an “insult to the Nari Shakti”.
“Today, a very strange scene unfolded in the Lok Sabha. The Congress, TMC, DMK, and Samajwadi Party did not allow the passage of the essential Constitution Amendment Bill for the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. Rejecting the bill that would grant 33% reservation to women, celebrating it, and raising victory cries over it is truly reprehensible and beyond imagination,” Shah wrote on X.
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the Opposition’s conduct “reflects a consistent resistance to women’s advancement”, adding that the quota bill introduced by the government was aimed at increasing the participation of Matrashakti in national interest.
After the motion was defeated, a meeting of NDA floor leaders began in Parliament on Friday with several senior leaders of the alliance in attendance.
Union Ministers JP Nadda, Kiren Rijiju, Arjun Meghwal and Shivraj Singh Chouhan were present at the meeting, along with BJP National President Nitin Nabin.
Among other leaders attending the meeting were Shrikant Shinde, Anupriya Patel, Jayant Chaudhary, HD Deve Gowda and Upendra Kushwaha.
