- Congress calls women’s quota bill defeat a victory for democracy and Opposition unity
New Delhi, 18-04-2026: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday accused the Centre of attempting to alter the country’s federal balance under the cover of women’s reservation and described the defeat of the Constitution amendment bill in the Lok Sabha as a significant victory for democracy and opposition unity. She said the outcome had blocked what the Opposition viewed as a larger political design tied to delimitation and electoral advantage.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, the Congress general secretary asserted that the Opposition was not against reservation for women and would support the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023, if the government moved to implement it on the current strength of the Lok Sabha. She argued that the controversy was not about opposing women’s political representation, but about resisting an attempt to link it with a broader restructuring exercise that, according to her, could affect the federal framework.
Priyanka Gandhi alleged that the Centre’s real objective was political and that the proposed constitutional amendment was designed to serve the ruling side in the 2029 elections. She claimed the government had tried to present the measure as a pro-women step while, in reality, it was connected to delimitation and seat redistribution. According to her, the defeat of the bill marked an important setback for the government and showed that a united Opposition could resist such moves in Parliament.
She further said the development amounted to a “victory for the Constitution, the country and the unity of the Opposition,” while also calling it a “black day” for the government, which she said had suffered a major shock after seeing the bill fail in the Lower House. Gandhi also referred to remarks made during the parliamentary debate to argue that the government’s political intentions had become visible to the public.
The Congress leader maintained that the ruling party had tried to turn the issue into a political narrative by portraying itself as the champion of women’s rights while cornering the Opposition. She said people were capable of seeing through that strategy and insisted that the broader issue before Parliament was not women’s reservation in principle, but the attempt to combine it with changes that could have wider electoral consequences.
The remarks came a day after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which sought to operationalise 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures, failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. The bill received 298 votes in favour and 230 against, falling short of the numbers needed for passage as a constitutional amendment.