Centre Committed To Bringing 33% Women's Reservation Before 2029: Sources

Yesterday's loss for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Lok Sabha in its bid to push an amendment legislation on women's quota and two other bills will not deter the government from pursuing the matter, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The NDA is speaking to stakeholders on finding another way to get the bill pass a second test in parliament, sources told NDTV today, amid a massive protest led by BJP leaders including Hema Malini outside Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's house in Delhi.

The government wants to empower women, who form at least half of the country's population, and no amount of Opposition tactics can stop the march of "Nari Shakti", sources said, without giving details about the ways the NDA is exploring to bring back the legislation for the ultimate test.

The NDA needed to shore up support from other parties or make some of them abstain from voting to have its way. The NDA has the support of 293 members in the Lok Sabha, which is 54 per cent of the house; the Opposition has 233 MPs. In the upper house, however, the NDA has 141 members in their favour, which is 58 per cent of the upper house, and the Opposition has 83 MPs in support.

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, had proposed 33 per cent reservation for women in parliament and assemblies along with an increase in the strength of the Lok Sabha. It failed to get the required two-thirds majority in the lower house despite an extensive debate.

The bill received 298 votes in favour and 230 against in the Lok Sabha, falling short of the constitutional threshold required for passage. A Constitution amendment bill can be passed only by a two-third majority of those present in the house at the time of voting. Going by current strength, the NDA did not have the required numbers for getting the Constitution amendment bill passed.

Had the amendment to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam sailed through, it would have been brought for implementation in 2029.