NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to make a national address today at 8:30 PM on Saturday, 18 April 2026. This comes amid opposition to a crucial piece of legislation that failed to be enacted in the lower house of parliament. In an important setback to the government, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, related to women’s reservation, failed to be enacted in the Lok Sabha last night.
The Legislative Stalemate
In the bill, the government had proposed to enhance the Lok Sabha strength to 816 seats (from 543), in order to create a 33% quota of women in the upcoming 2029 elections. However, due to a lack of support, only 298 members voted for the bill as compared to 230 voting against the bill. Thus, falling short of the required two-thirds majority, i.e., 352 votes, the legislation was unsuccessful. On account of its failure, the central government decided not to table two other legislations: the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, citing them as “intrinsically linked” to the above bill.
Political Consequences: Delimitation v. Representation
The crux of the issue was the exercise of delimitation as per the 2011 census.
Government’s Position: Home Minister Amit Shah stated that it was necessary mathematically, because otherwise it was impossible to “rationalize” the number of voters per constituency and represent women without displacing the existing male candidates.
The Opposition’s Position: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and colleagues termed this bill “a hidden agenda.” It was their position that the linkage of reservation to delimitation would make it difficult for Southern and Northeastern states to be politically represented in Parliament, since they had successfully checked their population growth
What to Expect Tonight
Earlier in a Cabinet meeting today, the Prime Minister is reported to have attacked the Opposition as “guilty” of betraying women’s interests in India. The speech tonight will witness the Prime Minister taking the message straight to the public domain. According to observers, the Prime Minister will paint the opposition as “guilty” of betraying the rights of Indian women in his message about the defeat of the Bill. Already, opposition parties have announced press conferences across the nation to press for passage of the 2023 Women’s Reservation Bill without the “delimitation trap.”
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