In the Lok Sabha, all three bills related to women's reservation were put to vote, with a total of 528 votes cast in the first round. 298 votes were cast in favor of the bill, while 230 members voted against it. The bill required a two-thirds majority to be approved, which would have been 352 votes. The Modi government fell far short of this number, which is being seen as a severe jolt to the government. After the voting in the first round, the remaining two bills were not even introduced. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that when the voting was held on considering the bill, 298 votes were cast in favor and 230 against. The bill was not passed with a two-thirds majority, so it is not possible to proceed with the bill. The bill fell at the level at which it was introduced for consideration. After this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced that the other two bills would not be moved forward.
The Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had introduced the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill in the lower house with the aim of passing the women's reservation bill. Speaker Om Birla decided to put the constitutional amendment bill to vote and ordered the lobby to be cleared for this purpose. Subsequently, voting took place, in which the efforts of the Modi government failed. Opposition parties had already termed the bill introduced by the Modi government as misleading and a result of conspiracy. Specifically, senior Congress leaders had clearly stated in the Lok Sabha that this is not a women's reservation bill, but a delimitation bill wearing the clothes of women's reservation.
After the bill was not passed, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, while proposing to withdraw the Delimitation Bill 2026 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Amendment Bill 2026, said that the opposition has missed a historic opportunity to implement women's reservation. He said that the government will continue its efforts to empower women and, due to the constitutional amendment bill not being passed, a request has been made not to move the other two bills forward. The government had proposed to implement the women's reservation bill, which was unanimously approved in 2023, with the 131st amendment to the Constitution, as well as to delimit based on the 2011 census and to enforce these laws in union territories with assemblies such as Puducherry, Delhi, and Jammu and Kashmir. Under this, there was a plan to increase the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies by 50 percent and to implement women's reservation from the 2029 general elections. The government had also proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from 550 to 850.
During the discussion, the opposition alleged that the government had brought the bill for political gain. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said that the BJP is delimiting for its own benefit. Several opposition members expressed concern that delimitation would increase the number of seats in northern states while reducing representation from southern states. Home Minister Amit Shah said that the opposition is making "ifs and buts" on the issue of women's reservation, but in fact, it is opposing it. He said that the Congress had supported the bill in 2023 because it feared the wrath of women in the 2024 elections. He said that the opposition will have no way to escape the anger of women's power.
