What Happened
- Parliament continued debate on April 17, 2026, on the package of three bills — the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — aimed at restructuring Lok Sabha representation and enabling women's reservation by 2029.
- The Home Minister argued on the floor of Lok Sabha that critics of the delimitation exercise were functionally opposing an increase in Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe seats — since delimitation would proportionally increase SC/ST reserved seats along with the general seat expansion.
- He also challenged the Opposition parties to pass a government amendment guaranteeing a 50% seat increase in all states within one hour, accusing them of opposing women's reservation in substance while opposing it in form.
- Opposition parties maintained they support women's reservation in principle but oppose the specific mechanism of linking it to delimitation and the census, arguing this deliberately delays implementation.
- The bills ultimately failed to secure the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment: 298 voted in favour and 230 against.
Static Topic Bridges
Reservation for SC/ST in Lok Sabha — Article 330
Article 330 of the Constitution provides for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha in proportion to their population in the concerned state. This is a constitutionally mandated reservation, unlike the reservation for women which was recently added.
- SC seats are reserved in proportion to the SC population of each state; similarly for STs.
- These reservations were originally intended for 10 years (Article 334), but have been extended by successive amendments — currently extended until 2030 by the 104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019.
- Delimitation exercises recalculate which specific constituencies are reserved for SCs and STs based on the concentration of SC/ST population — boundaries of reserved constituencies change after each delimitation.
Connection to this news: The argument that opposing delimitation means opposing more SC/ST seats is logically grounded — expanding the Lok Sabha to 815 seats would proportionally increase the absolute number of SC and ST reserved constituencies. However, critics note that proportional representation shares can remain unchanged even with more absolute seats.
Constitutional Amendment Procedure — Two-Thirds Majority Requirement
The Women's Reservation Act and the current delimitation bills involve amendments to the Constitution, requiring a higher threshold than ordinary legislation.
- Article 368(2) requires that a constitutional amendment bill be passed in each House of Parliament by a majority of the total membership of that House (absolute majority) AND by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting.
- The two-thirds requirement applies to votes cast (present and voting), not total membership — but combined with the absolute majority requirement, effectively demands very broad support.
- For bills affecting federal provisions (such as representation of states in Parliament under Article 368(2) proviso), ratification by at least half of the State Legislatures is additionally required.
Connection to this news: The 131st Amendment Bill needed two-thirds support; with 298 in favour and 230 against (total 528 votes cast), the government fell short of the required two-thirds threshold (~352 of 528). This explains why the bills failed despite the ruling alliance's numerical majority.
Women's Reservation and SC/ST Overlap
The 106th Amendment Act, 2023, provides that one-third of seats reserved for SCs and STs shall also be reserved for women from those communities. This creates an intersectional quota addressing both gender and caste-based marginalisation simultaneously.
- If a state has 20 SC-reserved Lok Sabha seats, at least 7 of those 20 seats (one-third) must be reserved specifically for SC women.
- This "reservation within reservation" for SC/ST women is separate from the general one-third reservation for women in general/open seats.
- The reservation rotates after each delimitation — the same constituency will not remain reserved for women indefinitely.
Connection to this news: Any increase in total SC/ST reserved seats through delimitation would correspondingly increase the subset reserved for SC/ST women — making the two issues (delimitation and women's reservation) structurally interlinked beyond mere political framing.
Key Facts & Data
- Vote on 131st Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha (April 17, 2026): 298 in favour, 230 against — fell short of two-thirds required.
- Two-thirds majority requirement: Article 368(2) — two-thirds of members present and voting, plus absolute majority of total membership.
- Current Lok Sabha SC reserved seats: 84; ST reserved seats: 47 (of 543 total).
- 104th Constitutional Amendment (2019): extended SC/ST reservation in legislatures to 2030.
- Women's share of SC/ST reserved seats (106th Amendment): one-third must also be reserved for women from that category.
- Projected Lok Sabha seats post-131st Amendment: 815 (states) + 35 (UTs) = 850 total.
- SC population (Census 2011): ~16.6% of India's population; ST population: ~8.6%.