Parliament LIVE | No two-thirds majority: Women's Quota Amendment Bill fails in LS

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju says since the Delimitation Bill and the UT Laws Amendment Bill are intrinsically linked to the Constitution Amendment Bill, which has fallen, the two Bills can't be pushed further.

The Women’s Reservation Bill hit a hurdle in the Lok Sabha after the Ayes were 298 votes, short of the required 360 for a two-thirds majority.

Division-
Ayes: 298
Nays: 230
Abstain: 0

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal moved the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha.

The lobbies were cleared ahead of voting, and the Bill is set to be taken up shortly for decision in the House.

Amit Shah said that all amendments proposed in the Constitution through the current Bill are aimed at ensuring a 50 per cent increase in the share of seats across all states. He alleged that the Congress was opposing the Bill not on policy grounds but because it was being brought by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming the Opposition feared that women voters would support the Prime Minister in large numbers.

He further said that Parliament had earlier unanimously promised women’s reservation and accused the Congress of going back on that commitment. Shah urged MPs to vote according to their conscience, adding that the Opposition had “no conscience” in this matter.

Referring to the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, he criticised the language used in the House, calling it unparliamentary and inappropriate. He said the country was witnessing such behaviour and stressed that members must adhere to parliamentary decorum. Shah also remarked that if Rahul Gandhi did not wish to learn from senior MPs, he should at least take guidance from his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Amit Shah said the Opposition’s stance was not limited to women’s reservation, alleging that it had also opposed several key government decisions and national security measures.

He listed the abrogation of Article 370, the abolition of triple talaq, surgical strikes, and Operation Sindoor, along with the government’s efforts to make India “naxal-free,” as examples of policies he claimed were previously opposed by the Congress.

Amit Shah said the government has consistently followed the principle of women-led development in both letter and spirit.

He said there were 10 women in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first Council of Ministers, and highlighted that senior BJP leaders such as Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti and Vasundhara Raje went on to become the first women Chief Ministers of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively.

He further said that in the past 70 years, the Congress did not appoint women Chief Ministers in these states, and added that the country also got its first tribal woman President under the present government.

Amit Shah alleged that Congress governments, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, had consistently opposed OBC and had not supported a caste census in the past. He said the Congress was now projecting itself as a supporter of OBCs only after electoral setbacks.

Shah also said the Modi government includes 27 OBC ministers, making up 40 per cent of the Council of Ministers, highlighting representation of backward classes in the current Cabinet.

He further stated that the government is conducting a caste census and that once the report is submitted, it will be discussed in Parliament, after which the next steps will be decided based on the “sense of the House.”

Amit Shah said the Opposition could disrupt proceedings in Parliament, but warned that they would not be able to escape public accountability, adding that they would face the “wrath of women” when they go to the electorate.

Responding to demands raised during the debate, he said some members had sought reservations for Muslim women. Shah clarified that the Constitution does not permit reservations based on religion, stating that eligibility for reservation cannot be linked to factors acquired through religious conversion and must be rooted in constitutional principles.

Amit Shah said the Opposition’s position was a “trap” based on inputs from Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi aimed at preventing the rollout of women’s reservation by 2029. He said the government would not fall for such tactics, even if the Bill risked failing without Opposition support.

He further asserted that women across the country were watching closely to see who was creating hurdles in the implementation of women’s reservation.