Constitution amendment bill: Opposition numbers key to seal fate of delimitation and women's quota

New Delhi: The number of votes – 185 – garnered by the Opposition in Lok Sabha while objecting to the introduction of a Constitution amendment bill on delimitation and implementation of 33 per cent women’s quota appears to have sealed its fate when it comes up for passage on Friday afternoon.

The vote on the introduction of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 was the first test for the Opposition after it announced on Wednesday that it would ensure the fall of the draft legislation, which they said was on delimitation and not on women’s quota.

The government managed enough numbers – 251 – for its introduction, as it only requires a simple majority at introduction stage, while a two-third majority is required for its passage.

With a Constitution amendment Bill presently requiring 360 votes for its passage if all 540 MPs are present and voting, the Opposition has crossed the threshold of 181 votes that is needed for ensuring that it does not go through. On Thursday, only 436 MPs were present at the time of voting.

MPs like KC Venugopal (Congress), Dharmendra Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (Trinamool Congress), Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) and NK Premachandran (RSP) spoke in the House opposing the introduction of the contentious Bill while some other members had submitted notice.

At the outset, the government, which has 293 MPs, needed Opposition support for passing the Bill. An analysis showed that 238 MPs – 232 I.N.D.I.A bloc MPs representing 17 parties, three AAP MPs and one each AIMIM, ASP (Kanshiram) and Akali Dal MP have declared their opposition.

While it is unclear whether the Akali Dal will finally vote or abstain, other 237 MPs have already made it clear they would vote against the Bill. 

A number of Trinamool MPs were not present at the time of voting while party leaders insisted that at least 20 of their 28 MPs will be reaching Delhi before the voting on the Bill takes place. The party’s initial reluctance to send MPs to Delhi in the midst of elections had attracted criticism from allies.

At a meeting of Opposition floor leaders chaired by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, sources said they were unaware of any proposal to add a Schedule to the Bill to ensure 50 per cent rise in Lok Sabha seats in all states and if such a thing comes up, they will oppose that too.

The reasoning was that there is no Constitutional guarantee to such moves, sources said while adding that verbal assurances in Parliament will also not suffice in such matters. “This Bill is to ensure that the BJP wins the 2029 elections. We are not going to allow that,” a senior Opposition leader said.