18042026-TT-01.qxd 4/17/2026 11:32 PM Page 1 c m y b HARIVANSH ELECTED AS RS DEPUTY CHAIRMAN NATION /thetribunechd 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 106 | 22 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HIMACHAL PRADESH saturday | 18 april 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Women quota Bill fails to get the required 2/3rds Constitution amendment agenda defeated, majority; 298 MPs vote in favour, 230 against it govt decides against moving remaining 2 Bills First legislative setback to Modi govt in 12 yrs; Shah tells Oppn to brace for women’s wrath NO RESHERVATION, BJP BILL FALLS Aditi Tandon TN DEFEATS DELHI Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 17 A united Opposition on Friday defeated the government’s move to amend the Constitution for raising the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies and reserving one-third of these for women in time for the 2029 elections. Moments after Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress and its allies of stalling the women’s reservation agenda for decades, and dared them to “face the wrath of women at the hustings”, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, fell in the Lower House, in the first legislative setback to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in 12 years. The PM was in the House when the Bill failed. While 298 MPs voted for the draft law that tied women’s reservation to delimitation of constituencies, 230 voted against it. Being a Constitution amendment Bill, the agenda required a two-thirds majority of the 528 MPs present and voting, which meant 352 votes. The government fell short of 54 even as the ruling and opposition blocs stayed firm on their predeclared stances on the Bill. With the Constitution amendment agenda defeated, the government did not move the remaining two Bills — the Delimitation Commission Bill, 2026, and another to amend the structures of UTs with assemblies. Just before the Bill fell — a prospect BJP strategists led by PM Modi were aware of — Shah attacked the Congress-led INDIA bloc for deploying “ifs and buts” to oppose women’s reservation. “Be ready to face the wrath of women,” Shah said in the House, rejecting as “false narratives” the three continued on page 6 ❝ The pride of Delhi has been humbled. The voice of South can’t be suppressed by the numbers of the North. Not just the Bill, the arrogance of the Centre has crumbled. Truly, TN defeats Delhi. MK Stalin, TN CHIEF MINISTER WIN FOR FEDERALISM ❝ Home Minister Amit Shah during the special Parliament session. PTI LOK SABHA CURRENT STRENGTH 540 MPs The nefarious attempt of the PM & HM to link their delimitation proposal to women’s quota has been decisively defeated… This is a win for our democracy, federalism & Constitution. Jairam Ramesh, CONG GENERAL SECRETARY INSULT TO ALL WOMEN ❝ VOTED 528 FOR AGAINST 2/3rd MARK 298 230 352 Celebration by Oppn is an insult to every woman who has been waiting for her rights for decades. How many times will Congress & its allies betray women? Amit Shah, HOME MINISTER In LS loss, BJP eyes future wins; set to start campaign showing Oppn ‘anti-women’ Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 17 For someone who knew he was going to lose the point, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, principal architect of the Constitution 131st Amendment Bill 2026, was unusually composed in the Lok Sabha today. As he replied to the debate on the Bill, which a united Opposition, wary of alterations in the country’s electoral map by way of a pro- MYANMAR FREES AUNG SAN SUU KYI WORLD posed delimitation, defeated, Shah spoke with full consciousness that the agenda he was advocating was set to fail. “The women of India will never forgive you. Be ready to face their wrath at the hustings. You will not even get an escape route,” he said even before the Bill was defeated, giving away the BJP strategy of painting the Opposition anti-women in the election campaigns and narratives going forward. Earlier today, Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi also spoke publicly of how the BJP knew what it was doing when it brought the three Bills and tied them all together linking women’s reservation to delimitation, which had not happened since 1971. “The BJP knew very clearly that this Bill actually cannot be passed. They were not stupid. This was a panic reaction by the BJP . continued on page 6 Anti-sacrilege Bill referred to Punjab Guv for approval CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Vidhan Sabha has sent the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026, to the Punjab Governor for his approval. All eyes are now on the Lok Bhavan to see when Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria gives his nod to the Bill. Kataria is currently touring border districts and is expected to be back in Lok Bhavan only on April 20. Though this is the fourth attempt in the past decade to bring in a new legislation against sacrilege-related crimes in Punjab, it is only the third time that a Bill passed by the Vidhan Sabha has been sent to the Governor. INSIDE Central Govt eases wheatprocurement normsforPunjab CHANDIGARH: In a major relief for farmers of Punjab, the Centre has relaxed the uniform wheat specifications, allowing for procurement of wheat grain with lustre loss of up to 70 per cent. As a result, procurement of wheat increased manifold, with 7.2 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of wheat being procured on Friday. The relaxed specifications have been announced amid farmers' unrest after purchase of their produce, damaged because of vagaries of weather, had stopped as they did not meet the quality standards set by the Food Corporation of India. INSIDE c m y b Attempt to redraw electoral map: Rahul tears into Centre SC: InstallCCTVsto curbillegalminingin Chambalsanctuary NEW DELHI: Slamming the governments of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for their utter failure in dealing with illegal sand mining in the Chambal riverbed, the Supreme Court on Friday directed them to install highresolution Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining in the area. INSIDE Animesh Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 17 In a stinging attack on the Centre, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the Constitution amendment Bill had nothing to do with women’s reservation, and was an attempt by the government to change the country’s electoral map by taking away representation from southern, north-eastern and smaller states, which was “nothing short of an anti-national act”. He alleged that the legislation was aimed at redrawing India’s electoral balance rather than empowering women. Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the special Parliament session, the senior Congress leader said the government was using women’s reservation as a cover to pursue political objectives and retain power. He accused the Centre of attempting to weaken the political voice of OBCs and Dalits through constituency restructuring. Rahul said the Opposition would resist what he described as an “anti-national” move and defeat any attempt to alter the continued on page 6 India examining Dhaka’s request to extradite Hasina NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi speaks in the Lok Sabha on Friday. PTI Cong’s persistent outreach yields Oppn rare Parl win New Delhi, April 17 The unity that powered the INDIA bloc’s parliamentary victory did not emerge overnight. It was forged in a series of hurried consultations, late-night calls and back-to-back strategy meetings over the past 10 days, triggered by a single political flashpoint: the Centre’s decision to link women’s reservation with delimitation. What followed was one of the clearest instances of Opposition convergence in recent months. Parties that often diverge on electoral strategy closed ranks around a sharply defined position, support 33 per cent reservation for women, but oppose its linkage to Census and constituency redrawing. The pivot came in the days leading up to the special Parliament session. INSIDE India on Friday said it was examining Bangladesh’s request for the extradition of former PM Sheikh Hasina, signalling that the sensitive issue is being processed through established legal and judicial channels even as New Delhi seeks to maintain steady diplomatic engagement with Dhaka. INSIDE Air India pilot sent back from US for possessing drugs NEW DELHI: An Air India pilot travelling as a passenger to San Francisco was allegedly found with marijuana and sent back by US authorities this week, sources said. The pilot has been derostered. The airline said the crew member, travelling on April 14 to position for a subsequent flight, was found inadmissible under local laws and returned to India. — PTI