The Hindu Times reports on its front page that India's Parliament has rejected a bill aimed at increasing seats in the lower house under women's reservation quotas.
Despite Shaha's verbal assurance that seats across all states would be uniformly increased by 50%, Bill No. 131, the Constitutional Amendment Act, was defeated by a united opposition.
New Delhi: A constitutional amendment bill intended to expand the size of the Lok Sabha and expedite the implementation of the 33% women's quota failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha on Friday, marking the first defeat for a government bill since the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power in 2004.
Bill No. 131 sought to raise the upper limit of Lok Sabha seats to 850 and implement the 33% women's quota before the 2029 elections, but it was defeated by a united opposition. Although Home Minister Amit Shah dramatically proposed at the last minute to include a 50% proportional increase for all states within the bill, the opposition remained unmoved. The final vote in the Lok Sabha resulted in 298 votes against and 230 in favor, indicating both sides exerted maximum effort. The opposition needed at least 181 votes to defeat the bill. "The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill did not pass because it failed to achieve the two-thirds majority in the House," said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Subsequently, the government withdrew two other related bills—one mandating delimitation based on the latest available census (effectively the 2011 census), and another implementing changes to union territories.
It is certain that the Women's Reservation Bill of 2023 remains valid and has already been notified by the government.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1862767048066112/
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