PM Modi to address the nation at 8:30 p.m. | LIVE

In what was a foregone conclusion, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 failed to secure the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment. While 298 members voted in its favour and 230 against, the Bill needed 352 votes — two-thirds of the 528 present and voting — to pass. The government subsequently shelved the companion Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, saying they could not be viewed in isolation. During his reply to the debate, Home Minister Amit Shah gave a verbal guarantee that southern States would see their presence in an 816-member Lok Sabha increase in the same proportion as their current share, even offering to adjourn the House for an hour to redraft the Bill with a 50% uniform increase as an official amendment.

A united Opposition on Friday (April 17, 2026) defeated the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which sought to redistribute Lok Sabha seats on the basis of the 2011 Census to expedite the implementation of women’s reservation.