New Delhi: The defeat of the 131st Constitution amendment bill, linked to increasing the Lok Sabha strength from 543 to 850 by 2029 on Friday, came as a booster for the Opposition INDIA bloc which unitedly took on the ruling NDA.
The NDA needed a two-thirds majority to get the constitution 131st amendment bill passed but failed to get the required numbers. As many as 298 MPs voted in favour of the bill and 230 members voted against it. The defeat of the Constitution amendment bill led to the government withdrawing the other two bills it had brought in along with it namely the Delimitation bill and the UT Laws bill.
The NDA had proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 at present to 850, including 815 directly elected in states and 35 to be elected from the UTs as decided by the Parliament. The NDA tried to surprise the Opposition by listing the legislative agenda for the extended budget session from April 16 to 18 just two days prior but the INDIA bloc was able to devise a united strategy which succeeded against the Centre’s move.
The NDA argued the three bills aimed to give 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies but the opposition alleged the government’s real intention was to push an unfair delimitation agenda in the garb of giving women their due.
The Congress-led INDIA bloc was formed in 2023 and won 234/543 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The bloc was able to stop the BJP at 240 seats and the NDA at 291. The NDA formed the government as it had more than 272 seats needed for the purpose. The INDIA bloc had then claimed it was able to stop the BJP which was claiming to get over 400 seats, to just 240, and forced the saffron party to take support from the JD-U and the TDP. The Congress won 99 seats. As a result, Rahul Gandhi, who represents Rae Bareli, became the leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
The INDIA bloc versus NDA tussle came to the fore during the extended budget session. The Centre blamed the opposition for sabotaging the women’s reservation issue while the INDIA bloc countered the government by saying if the NDA was serious over the matter, it could have implemented the law in the 2024 national polls after the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed by the parliament unanimously in 2023.
“The INDIA bloc unity was seen in parliament over the three bills. Led by Lop Rahul Gandhi, 230 MPs voted against the constitution amendment bill. The bloc is going strong at the national level and will keep fighting the NDA,” Congress Lok Sabha MP Mohammad Jawed told ETV Bharat.
“The BJP sought to attack the country’s federalism under the guise of women’s rights. The opposition united and foiled their conspiracy. All Opposition parties, including the Congress, have fully supported women’s reservation but the BJP wanted to carry out delimitation in an arbitrary manner under this cover and render the entire election process completely biased. The opposition preserved the idea of India,” he said.
In his speech, Rahul launched a strong attack against the NDA and accused the Centre of trying to push an unfair delimitation of Lok Sabha seats based on the 2011 Census to gain political advantage across the country. In a clever move, Rahul had dubbed the constitution amendment bill as anti-SC, ST and OBC groups. The various INDIA bloc members had alleged that states in the south, north-east and northwest would have been at a loss if the faulty delimitation that suggested a 50 percent increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats in the states was implemented.
Congress insiders said the NDA’s faulty strategy in Parliament in pushing a constitution amendment bill knowing well it lacked the required numbers had exposed the saffron party and will give an edge to the INDIA bloc in the upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu on April 23 and in West Bengal on April 23 and 29.
“They were trying to play up the women’s reservation issue that had been a major promise of the Congress till the law was enacted in 2023. As it is, the BJP had little chance of winning seats in Tamil Nadu. Now with the impact of their historic defeat in parliament over the delimitation issue, they have further dented their prospects,” AICC secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu Suraj Hegde told ETV Bharat.
The INDIA bloc parties usually fight elections against each other in the states but were able to keep their unity intact over the issue. For instance, the Congress is fighting the TMC in West Bengal and the AAP in Delhi, Punjab and Goa. Similarly, the Congress is an ally of JMM in Jharkhand but the JMM fielded candidates against the Congress in Assam. The Left parties fight the Congress in Kerala but are part of the INDIA bloc in Parliament.
“This is a historic day for the united INDIA bloc which knocked out the controversial constitution amendment bill being pushed by the NDA. They got only 298 votes while the opposition got 230 votes. This is the beginning of the end for the BJP. They will lose in Kerala and in West Bengal. The TMC gives far more reservation to women in various democratic fora and is led by a woman CM Mamata Banerjee,” TMC Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra told ETV Bharat.
BJD leader and former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik who had supported the BJP over several issues over the past years too had urged the parties to oppose the controversial bills. Of late, the BJD maintained equidistance from both INDIA bloc and NDA.
“Whatever needs to be done to safeguard the country and the states will be done. Our leader had raised his concern over the constitution amendment bill through which the BJP aimed to push its delimitation agenda. Many states including Odisha would have suffered reduced representation due to the formula the Centre was suggesting. The smaller states who have controlled the population would have been penalised instead of getting rewarded. The united opposition defeated the faulty bills in a good move. The BJP wanted to have political advantage in northern states by increasing the Lok Sabha seats,” BJD Rajya Sabha MP Subhasish Khuntia told
