New Delhi: The passage of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to increase the Lok Sabha’s sanctioned strength from 550 to 850, appears uncertain ahead of the three-day special sitting of Parliament starting Thursday, with major opposition parties deciding to oppose it, citing the need to safeguard federal rights.
The Opposition holds enough numbers in both Houses, particularly the Lok Sabha, to block its approval, necessitating cross-party support for its passage. However, the joint Opposition’s decision, taken at a meeting chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Wednesday, showed no signs of any bipartisan consensus.
Announcing the Opposition’s decision, Kharge told reporters that they would oppose the Bill despite it being linked to the operationalisation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, which seeks to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women, as the timing of the move was “politically motivated”.
“We have decided to oppose this Bill but I want to tell you we are not against women’s reservation. We are against the delimitation provisions in the Bill,” Kharge said. Leaders of opposition parties including the SP, TMC, DMK, Left, JMM, RJD and AAP attended the meeting at Kharge’s residence. Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was also present.
The current strengths, factoring in vacant seats, of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are 540 and 244 respectively, and in a situation where all MPs are present and voting when the Bill is taken up for consideration, the government would require the support of two-thirds of members in each House.
This is the stipulation for the passage of Constitution amendment Bills as laid down under Article 368 of the Constitution. The clearance of such Bills is subject to a “special majority” in each House, namely, a majority of the total membership of the House and a majority of not less than two-thirds of members present and voting.
In this case, ratification by at least half of the state legislatures would also be required before the amendment is sent to the President for assent.
To put it simply, in a situation where the Bill is put to vote in the Lok Sabha, where it will be introduced first, in the presence of all 540 members, it will need the backing of as many as 360 MPs to be passed.
Considering that the Opposition’s collective tally in the Lok Sabha is 234, it is abundantly clear that only cross-party support can lead to its passage. Just the top four Opposition parties (Congress, SP, TMC and DMK) having 185 MPs collectively can effectively derail it.
On top of that, it remains unclear whether key BJP ally TDP, which has 16 Lok Sabha MPs, will support the proposed legislation in its current form, given apprehensions that it could skew parliamentary representation in favour of the more populous northern states, putting the southern states at a disadvantage.
In the Rajya Sabha, where the Bill will be taken up only after it clears the Lok Sabha, the numbers are relatively favourable to the ruling NDA. On a full House strength of 244 members, a two-thirds majority would require 163 votes in favour, assuming all members are present and voting.
The NDA’s current tally stands at 141. However, the effective threshold could come down if Opposition members abstain or are absent during voting, thereby reducing the total number of members present and voting, and consequently the number required for a two-thirds majority under Article 368.
“Under the garb of bringing forward women’s reservations, the BJP is looking to bulldoze a deeply flawed, unconstitutional and anti-federal delimitation exercise. What was the tearing hurry to introduce this with such little notice? When two major states are going into election, holding a special session for this shows the true devious intentions of this fascist regime,” Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal wrote on X.
The Samajwadi Party, which is the second-largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha, has also voiced its reservations against the Bill, with party chief Akhilesh Yadav calling it a cover to push through delimitation. “In the garb of women’s reservation, they are bringing in delimitation that will allow them to redefine constituencies at will,” Yadav told The Hindu.
The TMC, ranked third among the Opposition parties in terms of strength in the Lok Sabha, has dubbed the government’s agenda “devious”. “This govt plots a cheap stunt to mock the Constitution, mock Parliament and mock the women of this great nation. They have never cared a fig about women. Delimitation is the devious agenda. Women, their excuse,” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu CM and DMK supremo M.K. Stalin has announced a state-wide black flag agitation on 16 April against the proposed delimitation exercise and warned the Centre of consequences and a “heavy price” if it did not heed the state’s voice, upping the ante ahead of the upcoming polls.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: There’s no avoiding delimitation. Here’s 4 possible solutions that don’t ‘hurt’ the south