‘People will teach Congress a lesson’: Pralhad Joshi on defeat of Constitution Amendment Bill

NEW DELHI: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday took potshots at Congress over the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill and said people will teach the opposition party a lesson.

The Constitution Amendment Bill for the implementation of Women’s Reservation from the 2029 general elections was defeated in the Lok Sabha on Friday, with the opposition parties voting against it.

Speaking to the media outside Parliament, Joshi said, “Today the entire country saw who is in favour of women’s reservation and who is against women’s reservation… The country lost a historic opportunity because of the Congress Party… People will teach the Congress party a lesson.”

#WATCH | Delhi: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi says, “Today the entire country saw who is in favour of women’s reservation and who is against women’s reservation… The country lost a historic opportunity because of the Congress Party… People will teach the Congress party a… pic.twitter.com/heeyf20SnR

— ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2026

Meanwhile, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said that the Congress “betrayed the women,” recognising it as a missed opportunity for creating history. “This is a very sad day for the democracy of the country. We had the opportunity to create history by giving women their rights in policy making, but the Congress party has once again betrayed the women of the country…,” he said.

BJP MP Jagdambika Pal said, “Today the face of the opposition has been exposed… The Modi government is bringing women’s reservation in 2029 instead of 2034, so what is the protest about?… They never wanted to give a reservation to women. This is an insult to half the population of the country…,” he said.

Earlier, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the government, moments after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 failed to pass in the Lok Sabha, framing the bill’s defeat as a successful defence against an “unconstitutional trick”.

Taking to social media and addressing reporters shortly after the House adjourned, Gandhi claimed that the legislation was never intended to empower women immediately but was instead a calculated move to push through the controversial Delimitation Bill.

He hailed INDIA’s block unity in defeating the bill in the Lok Sabha. On X, Gandhi wrote,” The amendment bill has fallen. They used an unconstitutional trick in the name of women to break the Constitution. India has seen it. INDIA has stopped it. Hail the Constitution.”

The opposition’s primary grievance centred on the government’s decision to link the implementation of the 33 per cent women’s quota to the 2029 general elections and the completion of a fresh census and delimitation exercise.

The defeat marks a rare moment of effective parliamentary resistance for the INDIA bloc, which managed to deny the government the required two-thirds majority. The final tally–298 in favour and 230 against–fell significantly short of the threshold needed for a constitutional amendment.

By defeating the 131st Amendment, the opposition has effectively stalled the related Delimitation Bill, which they feared would penalise southern states for their successful population control measures.

Despite the bill’s defeat, the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act remains on the books, though its implementation continues to be tied to the future census. (ANI)