BY SANJEEB KUMAR SAHOO
Before I discuss national and international politics, diplomacy, and why April 17 and April 18, 2026 will be remembered indefinitely, first, I would like to state that the top three politicians with the best political minds are Prime Minister of India and top BJP leader Narendra Modi, Home Minister and second-top BJP leader after Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor.
So both top two leaders, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, were aware that the Government of India, led by NDA leader Narendra Modi, the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to increase the strength of the House to 850 seats in Lok Sabha, would be defeated in Lok Sabha because the numbers were not with the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.
As expected, the delimitation bill was defeated, with 298 votes in its favour and 230 votes against the proposed amendments, falling short of the two-thirds majority required to clear the Lok Sabha despite support from BJP partners from southern states- Chandrababu Naidu’S Telugu Desam Party, Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party, and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’SYSR Congress Party (TDP and Jana Sena’s arch-rival YSRCP), when all key political parties and top leaders from southern states were opposed to the Delimitation Bill.
Interestingly, in order to play it safe and avoid the ED’s call, TDP, Jana Sena, BJP, and Congress arch-rival Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao has stated that the party supports the delimitation bill, but there is a catch: the party has no single MP in Lok Sabha, but the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) holds three seats in the Rajya Sabha.
A constitutional amendment bill that represents the Narendra Modi government’s first legislative defeat in 12 years. As a constitutional amendment bill, it required the support of two-thirds of those present and voting, but it fell short when the Opposition banded together to vote against it. While 298 votes were cast in favour, 230 voted against the proposed amendments.
Om Birla, the Lok Sabha Speaker, announced on Friday (April 17) evening that the amendment bill had been defeated because it did not receive the required two-thirds majority from 489 members. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill 2026 seeks to increase the current House strength and allow for the delimitation of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assembly constituencies based on the 2011 Census rather than waiting for the post-2026 Census, potentially increasing total Lok Sabha seats by approximately 850.
In one round, 278 members supported the Bill and 211 opposed it. In another count, 298 members voted in favour, and 230 against.
However, the opposition political parties fully supported and continue to support the Women’s Reservation Bill, which was passed in 2023, and were opposed to the Delimitation Bill 2026 (introduced in #LokSabha without consultation with anyone) during a special session of parliament held on April 16, 17, and 18.
On April 17, Amit Shah responded to Lok Sabha members before voting on the bill, stating that no one has objected to women’s reservations. However, if we look closely, all members of the INDIA bloc have opposed the bill with ‘ifs and buts’.
As part of their political strategy, the BJP-led NDA government was able to secure support from its arch rival BRS prior to voting in the Lok Sabha, despite the fact that BRS has no MPs in the Lok Sabha but three in the Rajya Sabha. Following the bills’ defeat in the Lok Sabha, NDA MPs protested, claiming that the opposition opposes the women’s reservation bill, which I believe is part of the BJP-led NDA government’s best political strategy.
Again, I would say that the Government of India, led by NDA leader Narendra Modi, has introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, in Lok Sabha. The bill aims to increase the Lok Sabha’s strength from 543 to 850 members and revise the framework for delimitation and implementation of women’s reservations. However, it was defeated in the Lok Sabha.
The Narendra Modi government knew that, while the TDP, Jan Sena, and YSR Congress would support the bill, other politicians and lawmakers from Southern states would oppose it in the Lok Sabha because political maths was and remains simple.
And I was aware that Congress, the main opposition political party, would vote against the bill because Congress may have believed that increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats in Northern States would help the BJP win more seats in elections, as per the BJP’s campaign strategy. Furthermore, if the number of Lok Sabha seats in northern states increased, the Congress would suffer a significant setback because southern states would have received fewer Lok Sabha seats than Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, and other Hindi-speaking states under the bill.
Congress is also aware that the people of the southern states will always vote for Congress and that its allies and supporters in the southern states can only help Congress return to power in New Delhi-Seva Teerth.
In the meantime, opposition was against delimitation right from the outset, and there were talks alleging a situation in the future wherein one or two large states could dictate policies due to their larger number of representatives.
And I completely agree with Amit Shah, who stated in the Lok Sabha that there are 127 Lok Sabha seats, each with over 20 lakh voters, indicating a significant population disparity in representation. He contended that this violates the “one person, one vote, one value” principle, because some MPs represent 45 lakh people while others represent only 6 lakh.
“From 1971, there is a freeze on the increase of Lok Sabha seats. Malkajgir in Telangana has 48 lakh voters, Bengaluru North has 29 lakh, Ghaziabad, represented by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh once, has 28 lakh voters, Northwest Delhi 27 lakh voters. There are 127 seats where there are more than 20 lakh voters. How can one MP fulfill the aspirations of 48 lakh people? One person, one vote, one value is being violated, somewhere it is 48 lakh and somewhere it is 6 lakh. There is no value for one person, one vote. If they (Opposition) support the delimitation, then each vote will have the same value,” Amit Shah said in Lok Sabha.
Responding to Samajwadi Party ppresident and MP Akhilesh Yadav who intervened to say that the figure for Ghaziabad was much more, the Home Minister said that the member does not know if he was speaking in favour of the Delimitation Bill, 2026, or against it, and that is the precise point he intended to make.
Home Minister said that the Nari Shakti Vandan Act stipulates that reservation for women will be ensured in the delimitation exercise to be carried out after the Census conducted post-2026. He stated that in 1971, the government of the opposition party had frozen this process, and that is why it had to be mentioned. He added that the number of seats has remained frozen since 1971, and today there are 127 constituencies with more than 2 million voters each. In these constituencies, the principle of “one person, one vote, one value” is being completely violated.
Amit Shah said that in 1972, the then Prime Minister first brought a Delimitation Bill, increasing the number of seats from 525 to 545, and then froze them. He stated that in 1976, during the Emergency, the 42nd Amendment was brought, which halted delimitation in order to retain power. At that time too, the principal opposition party had deprived the people of the country of delimitation, and even today, it is the same party that is depriving the nation of it. He said that in 2001, the 84th Amendment was enacted, which froze the number of seats until 2026. From 1976 to 2026—a period of 50 years—the people of the country did not receive representation in proportion to the population.
Amit Shah noted that this limit ends in 2026, but even if delimitation is undertaken then, the process cannot be completed before 2029, as the Delimitation Commission is required to conduct public hearings in every constituency.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah said that in 1976, the country’s population was 54 crore 79 lakhs, whereas today it is 140 crore.
And, based on the population of the Lok Sabha’s east seat, I believe the number of seats should be increased where there are more than 20 lakhs, but only after consulting with all stakeholders.
Let’s talk about international politics and diplomacy, which took place on April 17 and April 18, even though US President Donald Trump commended Pakistan’s leadership, saying, “Thank you to Pakistan and its great Prime Minister and Field Marshal, two fantastic people.” And US President Donald Trump thanked them as “two fantastic people” for their role in brokering a breakthrough in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran agreed to keep the waterway open and remove sea mines.
But the elephant was, and the elephant still is in the room, as Iran reasserted full military control over the Strait of Hormuz on April 18, reversing a brief reopening of only a few hours in retaliation after the US pressed ahead with its blockade of Iranian ports.
The strait is closed until the US blockade is lifted, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy said on Saturday night (April 18), warning that “no vessel should make any movement from its anchorage in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered as cooperation with the enemy” and will be targeted.
One more significant development from April 18 is that, following the firing of two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz, India’s Ministry of External Affairs called Iran’s ambassador, Dr. Mohammad Fathali, to New Delhi.
According to a statement issued on April 18, India’s Ministry of External Affairs summoned the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ambassador in New Delhi to a meeting with the Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri on Saturday evening.
“During the meeting, Foreign Secretary conveyed India’s deep concern at the shooting incident earlier today involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz. He noted the importance that India attached to the safety of merchant shipping and mariners and recalled that Iran had earlier facilitated the safe passage of several ships bound for India. Reiterating his concern at this serious incident of firing on merchant ships, Foreign Secretary urged the Ambassador to convey India’s views to the authorities in Iran and resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
“The Ambassador of Iran undertook to convey these views to the Iranian authorities, ” India’s Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson said in a statement.
I would like to conclude by stating that the proposed Tuesday discussion in Islamabad may determine whether the #StraitOfHormuz will be open again or closed continuously for a few days again, as USA delegates are expected to arrive in Pakistan tomorrow for a second round of talks with Iran under Pakistani mediation, as a moment ago USA President Donald Trump stated on his social media platform that “representatives are going to #Islamabad, Pakistan — they will be there for tomorrow evening for negotiations.”
Additionally, the Iranian government is reportedly sending a team.
The second round of talks between the United States of America (USA) and Iran is expected to take place in Islamabad on April 20-21, with the US-Iran ceasefire set to expire on April 21. The United States of America and Iran held rare direct talks in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, with the goal of ending their conflict, but the talks ended without agreement.
