What Happened
- As the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 on women's reservation was defeated in the Lok Sabha, attention turned to a little-discussed chapter of constitutional history: several prominent women members of the Constituent Assembly had themselves opposed reservation for women during the framing of the Constitution.
- Figures such as Hansa Mehta, Renuka Ray, Ammu Swaminathan, and Vijayalakshmi Pandit argued against separate electorates and reserved seats for women in the new Constitution.
- Their position was grounded in the belief that the women's movement in India had consistently opposed special privileges, favouring equality of opportunity and universal adult franchise instead.
- The current debate — with some opposition parties opposing the Bill on grounds of linking reservation to delimitation — echoes the older debate about whether reservation instrumentalises women's political participation or genuinely empowers it.
Static Topic Bridges
The Constituent Assembly: Composition and Functioning
The Constituent Assembly of India was constituted under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946. It had 299 members (after the partition of British India reduced it from an originally larger body). The Assembly worked through committees — the most important being the Drafting Committee chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Fifteen women were members of the Constituent Assembly, of whom ten actively participated in debates.
- Total members: 299 (post-partition); originally 389 under Cabinet Mission Plan
- The Assembly sat for 2 years, 11 months, and 18 days (December 9, 1946 – November 26, 1949)
- Drafting Committee (7 members): Chairman — Dr. B.R. Ambedkar; other key members: N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, K.M. Munshi, Syed Mohammad Saadulla, B.L. Mitter (later replaced by N. Madhava Rau), T.T. Krishnamachari
- November 26, 1949 — Constitution adopted; January 26, 1950 — Constitution came into force
- Women members: Sarojini Naidu, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Hansa Mehta, Renuka Ray, Ammu Swaminathan, Durgabai Deshmukh, among others
Connection to this news: The Constituent Assembly's debate on women's reservation is directly relevant to the current controversy. The founding generation of politically active Indian women rejected reservation in favour of equality, setting a precedent that has shaped feminist positions on this issue for decades.
Hansa Mehta and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Hansa Mehta (1897–1995) was an educationist and freedom fighter from Gujarat who served on both the Constituent Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights. She is notable for successfully advocating the change of the phrase "all men are created equal" to "all human beings are born free and equal" in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
- Member of the Constituent Assembly; also a member of the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights
- Served as Vice-Chancellor of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
- Her position in the Constituent Assembly: Women did not want reserved seats or separate electorates — they wanted "equality of status and opportunity"
- She believed reservation would imply that women could not compete on merit with men
Connection to this news: Mehta's arguments resonate in today's debate where critics of the opposition's stance argue that opposing the reservation bill (even if for procedural reasons) echoes the founding generation's ambivalence about the instrument of reservation itself.
Renuka Ray and the Philosophy of Merit Over Reservation
Renuka Ray (1904–1997) was a member of the Constituent Assembly and later a Chief Minister of West Bengal (1948). She was part of the All India Women's Conference (AIWC), which since its founding had opposed any form of political reservation for women.
- AIWC position: "We are particularly opposed to the reservation of seats for women. Ever since the start of the Women's Movement in this country, women have been fundamentally opposed to special privileges and reservations."
- Ray argued that women like Vijayalakshmi Pandit reached prominence on the basis of "proven worth" — not on account of their sex
- The logic: reservation could lead to women's competence being permanently questioned or overshadowed by their reserved status
- This philosophy is consistent with the formal equality model of constitutional rights (as opposed to substantive equality, which recognises structural barriers)
Connection to this news: The tension between formal equality ("treat all equally") and substantive equality ("compensate for structural disadvantage") is at the heart of every debate on women's reservation, from 1949 to 2026.
Universal Adult Franchise: Article 326
Article 326 of the Constitution provides that elections to the Lok Sabha and every State Legislative Assembly shall be on the basis of adult suffrage — every citizen above the age of 18 (reduced from 21 by the 61st Amendment, 1988) is entitled to be registered as a voter. This was a conscious rejection of the colonial system of limited/qualified franchise.
- Article 326 — Universal adult franchise; disqualifications: non-citizenship, unsound mind, crime, corrupt or illegal practice
- 61st Amendment Act, 1988 — Lowered voting age from 21 to 18 years
- India adopted universal adult franchise at the time of the very first general election (1952), a remarkable feat given the literacy context
- The women members of the Constituent Assembly saw universal adult franchise as the primary instrument of political equality — rendering reserved seats unnecessary in their view
Connection to this news: The founding mothers' faith in universal adult franchise as sufficient for political equality explains why they opposed reservation — a position that remains debated in the context of persistent underrepresentation of women in Parliament.
Key Facts & Data
- Women in 18th Lok Sabha (2024): 74 women MPs — approximately 13.6% of 543 seats
- Global average: Women hold ~26.9% of parliamentary seats worldwide (IPU, 2024)
- India's rank: Among the lower tier globally for women's parliamentary representation
- Women in Constituent Assembly: 15 out of 299 members (~5%)
- 1996: Women's Reservation Bill first introduced as the 81st Amendment — it was defeated
- 2023: Finally passed as the 106th Amendment (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) — 27-year journey
- Ammu Swaminathan was among the first women elected to the Central Legislative Assembly in 1946
- Durgabai Deshmukh chaired the Planning Commission's Committee on Women's Role in the Planned Economy