A united Opposition on Friday voted down the Centre’s push to amend the 2023 women’s reservation law and expand the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats, handing the Narendra Modi government its first major defeat in Parliament.
The setback also marked the second big political-legislative reversal for the government, after a yearlong farmers’ agitation had forced it to repeal three contentious agricultural laws in 2021.
On Friday, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which required a two-thirds majority of members present and voting, fell through after securing 298 votes in favour against 230.
Opposition parties described the bill as a “dangerous ploy” to redraw constituencies to favour the ruling side under the pretext of reserving one-third seats for women in the legislatures.
After the defeat, the government declined to move two related bills — the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — maintaining the three legislations were “intrinsically interlinked”.
The Treasury benches, however, mounted a sharp counter-attack, branding the Opposition “anti-women”.
Union home minister Amit Shah accused the Opposition of obstructing women’s reservation for political reasons.
“The Opposition is indulging in ruthless politics. They are blocking women’s reservation because they know who will get the credit. The women of the country will not forgive this,” he said in his reply to the House, betraying fears of defeat even before the voting.
The Opposition erupted in celebration after the government’s defeat — the first time a key legislation backed by the Treasury benches had been voted out since Modi’s rise to power in 2014 — projecting their effort as a defence of the Constitution.
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the result had exposed the Centre’s intent. “The amendment bill has fallen. They used an unconstitutional trick in the name of women to break the Constitution. India has seen it. INDIA has stopped it. Hail the Constitution,” he posted on X.
Sources said that after the vote, Rahul had reached out to Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee, thanking him for playing a “crucial role” in the outcome.
Rahul is learnt to have acknowledged Abhishek’s efforts in ensuring the presence of 21 of the party’s 28 MPs in the House despite their engagement in electioncampaigning.
Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin, whose party led the charge against the move, struck a similar note.
“TN fought. TN won,” he posted, asserting that delimitation must not disturb the federal balance. “It is about representation, about who gets a voice in India’s democracy. It must strengthen the Union, not weaken its balance.”
He said the DMK was not opposed to delimitation per se but sought a “fair and consultative process”.
During Shah’s reply, the Opposition laid down two conditions for backing the bills. Congress member K.C. Venugopal said the party would support the legislation if the government agreed to increase each state’s share of seats by 50 per cent and de-link women’s reservation from the delimitation.
Shah indicated flexibility on the first demand, offering to bring in an amendment to make it official. However, he refused to concede the second demand, triggering sharp protests.
The Opposition maintained that de-linking the two was crucial and alleged the government intended to use the delimitation to redraw constituencies for electoral advantage.
Shah rejected the charge, calling the proposal a “premeditated trap”.
“I want to tell the women of this country that this proposal (to de-link delimitation from women’s reservation) will ensure that women’s reservation is not implemented before 2029,” he said.
Shah underscored the need for the expansion of the Lok Sabha to operationalise women’s reservation before the 2029 general election.
He accused the Opposition of paying lip service to the idea while effectively stalling it. “No one has openly opposed women’s reservation, but their ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ are aimed at blocking its fast-tracked implementation,” he said.
Shah appeared under pressure, repeatedly targeting the Congress and accusing it of historically opposing the empowerment of womenand OBCs.
He alleged the Opposition was pushing for reservation for Muslim women, and invoked the Constitution to argue there was no provision for religion-based quotas.
At one point, Shah was seen signalling BJP members to echo his remarks, thereby turning his speech into a coordinated attack.
“It’s not that the Opposition is opposing only the women’s reservation bill, they were against the abrogation of Article 370, they were against the Ram Mandir, they were against the CAA, they were against (the ban on the) triple talaq, they were against GST...,” he said.
The Treasury members joined in.
Shah also accused the Opposition of fuelling a north-south divide. The Opposition claims the delimitation will lower the southern states’ proportional strength in theLok Sabha.
“When we take the oath, we take it with our heart. Those who have taken the oath with the Constitution in hand are now trying to create a divide between north and south,” he said.
Senior ministers, led by Shah and BJP president Nitin Nabin, held a series of meetings in Parliament through the day. Sources indicated the party was working out a strategy to launch an aggressive political campaign portraying the Congress and its allies as “anti-women”.
Later, in a post on X, Shah criticised the Opposition.
“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 a bill that grants 33% reservation to women and celebrating it is beyond imagination,” he said.
He said the “insult to nari shakti” would resonate across the country. “The Opposition will have to face the wrath of women not only in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, but at every level, in every election,” he said.