India fails to pass women’s reservation bill in parliament

WEB DESK: The Indian government suffered a rare defeat on Friday when a key constitutional amendment bill aimed at reserving one-third of seats for women in parliament and state assemblies failed to secure the required majority.

The bill, which sought to advance women’s quotas by linking them to a fresh delimitation of constituencies, fell short of the two-thirds support needed in the Lok Sabha, according to Reuters.

Opposition claims constitutional manipulation

Opposition parties criticised the government for tying the women’s reservation to a major redrawing of constituency boundaries based on new population data. They argued this was an attempt to reshape electoral maps in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the bill had fallen and accused the government of using an “unconstitutional trick” in the name of women. “They used an unconstitutional trick in the name of women to break the Constitution,” he posted on X shortly after the vote.

Government vows to continue fight for women’s quotas

Home Minister Amit Shah rejected the opposition’s accusations and warned that Indian women would not forgive those who blocked the bill. “The women of this country will not forgive you,” he told parliament before the vote.

The government insisted that updating constituency boundaries was necessary to reflect population changes since the 1971 census. A women’s reservation law was passed in 2023, but its rollout was made conditional on a new census and delimitation exercise.

Friday’s failure leaves the one-third quota for women on hold, with women currently holding only about 14 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha. The government has said it will continue to push for greater female representation in legislatures.

Note that such internal wrangling in Indian politics frequently exposes the gap between rhetoric and reality on issues of gender and democratic representation. The government has indicated it will continue to campaign for the quota in the coming months.