Indian Government Faces First Legislative Defeat in 12 Years Over Women's Reservation Bill

In Parliament on Friday, a united opposition rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's last-minute appeal for a "conscience vote" and Home Minister Amit Shah's proposal. In fact, the Women's Reservation Bill was supposed to write that the number of Lok Sabha seats in all states would increase by 50 percent. It was defeated by the NDA in Parliament. At the same time, the opposition forced the government to face a legislative defeat for the first time in 12 years, as the proposed law failed to get the required two-thirds of the votes in the House. Opposition parties alleged that the bill, which promises to give reservation to women from 2029, is a ploy to reduce the representation of southern states in the Lok Sabha, change the political map for the benefit of the BJP, and delay the caste census. Opposition leaders did not agree at all with Shah's claim that the importance of southern states in the Lok Sabha would increase slightly under the proposed formula and the government is ready to conduct a caste census. The Women's Reservation Bill, i.e.