Big Setback for Women’s Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha

The 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill, which aimed to provide reservations for women, has failed to pass in the Lok Sabha. The crucial voting saw a total of 489 Members of Parliament participating. Out of them, 278 MPs voted in favour of the bill, while 211 voted against it.

However, the bill required a two-thirds majority, which means at least 326 votes were needed for approval. Since this required number was not reached, the Speaker declared the bill as failed. The main reason behind the failure was the lack of agreement among political parties, especially over issues like OBC quota and proposed changes in representation.

The government’s proposal, which also included increasing representation up to 850 seats, faced strong disagreement. Due to this, no consensus could be achieved, leading to the collapse of this important constitutional amendment.