‘Anti-women’: NDA leaders hold protest against Oppn after Constitution Amendment Bill defeat in Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: The NDA leaders on Friday held a protest in the Parliament premises as the 131st Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2026, failed to pass in the Lok Sabha.

The alliance members chanted slogans condemning the opposition for voting against the Bill in the Lower House, saying, “INDI alliance haye haye”.

Additionally, women MPs of the NDA held a separate protest in the Parliament premises over the defeat of the Constitutional Bill, holding placards and chanting slogans of “sharam karo” against the Opposition.

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.

A Constitution Amendment Bill is passed if it gets the support of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting. In the division that took place following the debate on the three bills, 298 members supported the bill while 230 voted against it.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced the results of the division.”The Constitution (131st Amendment) Amendment Bill did not pass as it did not achieve a 2/3 majority during voting in the House,” he said.

207 Lok Sabha MPs vote for the introduction of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026. While 126 members voted against it. The Opposition members in the Lok Sabha had pressed for a division against the move to introduce the bill. pic.twitter.com/NMKwPrFd0q

— ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2026

BJP MP Giriraj Singh recognised it as a defeat of the country’s Nari Shakti and said that the Opposition “will have to pay the price”. “The country’s ‘Nari Shakti’ today saw the way the INDI alliance and Congress defeated the women’s reservation bill. They will have to pay the price for this,” he said.

Meanwhile, Union minister Ramdas Athawale called the Congress and the Opposition “anti-women”. BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad seconded Athawale’s thoughts and said that the “Congress opposes everything”, adding that the “women of the country will not forgive them.”

“Congress party, especially Rahul Gandhi, oppose everything. Today, when the Modi govt is committed to women’s empowerment, they (the opposition) are opposing it. It is evident that they are against ‘nari vandan’ and women’s representation. The women of the country will not forgive them,” he said.

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat recognised the Congress’s opposition to the bill as their “agenda of dividing the country.” He said that the verdict of the voting exposed Congress’ tactics.

“The way the Constitution Amendment Bill for women’s reservation has been defeated today and the way Congress has once again put forth its agenda of dividing the country in full words. The tactics, character and face of Congress have been exposed,” Shekhawat said.

Additionally, LJP(R) MP Arun Bharti questioned the Opposition over their support for women, alleging that the Opposition isn’t ready to implement women’s empowerment.

“The mask of women support that the opposition had put on has been removed today. They talk about women’s empowerment, but when it comes to implementing it on the ground, the opposition is not ready for it. The opposition needs to think about which direction they want to take the country’s politics,” he said.

On the other hand, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that the Opposition has “defeated this attack on the Constitution” after the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill failed to pass in the Lok Sabha.