The Editorial Page: A political setback for government, a democratic opening for Opposition 12 SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2026 Journalism of Courage NEW DELHI, LATE CITy, 22 PAGES ₹7.00 (₹8 RAIPUR, ₹15 SRINAGAR) l www.indianexpress.com DA I Ly f R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , j A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , vA D O DA R A FIRST MAjOR LEGISLATIVE DEFEAT FOR MODI GOVT SINCE 2014; RELATED bILLS DROPPED MODI, SHAH WARN OPPOSITION IT WILL FACE WOMEN’S IRE IF RESERVATION DENIED GOVT’S REAL DESIGN WAS TO CHANGE ELECTORAL MAP OF COUNTRY, SAYS OPP Opposition stands, women’s Bill falls Will work with Tehran to recover Opp:Hailthe enriched uranium: US President Constitution, bjP’sdeceitful Humeyra Pamuk, Saad Sayeed & Aziz Taher Washington, chariotstopped Paris, April 17Islamabad, 298-230 voting score in House well short of required two-thirds majority Vikas Pathak & Deeptiman Tiwary New Delhi, April 17 IN THE first major legislative loss for the Modi government since it came to power in 2014, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeking to advance reservation of 33% seats for women in an expanded Lok Sabha and state Assemblies and facilitate delimitation of constituencies,wasdefeatedin Lok Sabha Friday evening. Ofthe528memberspresent in the House, 298 voted in favour of the Bill and 230 opposed it, the result well short of thetwo-thirdsmajorityneeded for a Constitutional amendment Bill to clear the House. The amended women’s quota Bill — the 2023 women’s ThE EDITOrIAl PAGE IN PArLIAmENt PUShbAck, LESSoN for govt PAgE 12 Asad Rehman New Delhi, April 17 PArlIAmENT hIgh drAmA, qUIEt cErtAINty — ANd A fALL PAgE 8 reservation law still stands – was put to vote after a marathon two-day debate during which Prime Minister NarendraModiandHomeMinister Amit Shah urged members to support the proposed legislation, and cautioned the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 happening today lPRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi will speak at a “grand gathering” in Coimbatore. lLEADER OF Opposition Rahul Gandhi will launch election campaign in Chennai. TRACk THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm As Iran opens Hormuz, Trump says blockade to stay until deal reached Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other ministers during the special sitting of Parliament, Friday. ANI Close to vote, Govt realised Bill would fall, put the onus on Opp Deeptiman Tiwary & Liz Mathew New Delhi, April 17 HOURS BEFORE the Constitutional amendment Bill providing for women’s reservation and delimitation was put to vote in the Lok Sabha, it was pretty much clear to the government it did not have the support of enough MPs in the House for the required two-thirds majority of those present. But BJP leaders and sources in the government told The Indian Express they would not withdraw the Bill at this point; they would rather have it fall at the hands of the Opposition. Inalastditchattempttosalvage the Bill, the ruling party did make attempts to reach out to the Akhilesh Yadavled Samajwadi Party and some other Opposition parties during the day. They seemed to think sections within the Opposition would support the Bill when it is brought to vote, worried about facing questions during elections. E. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 business as Usual By EP UNNY AFTERTHEConstitution(One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, failed to get the Lok Sabha’s approval Friday, the Opposition hailed it as “historic” and emphasised it was not against women’s reservation. In his first reaction after the Bill failed to make its way through the Lower House, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi posted on X, “The amendmentbillhasfallen.They usedanunconstitutionaltrickin thenameofwomentobreakthe Constitution. India has seen it. INDIA(bloc)hasstoppedit.Hail the Constitution.” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said the state had “defeated Delhi”. “On April 23 (elections), we will defeat Delhi’s arrogance — andtheslaveswhosupportthat arrogance — together,” Stalin wrote on X alongside a portrait of him setting fire to a copy of the Delimitation Bill. In another post, he said, “The south stood united and made its voice heard. Democracy prevailed. We never opposed delimitation. We asked for fairness, for a process that is »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IRANIAN FOREIGN Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifthoftheworld’soilandliquefiednaturalgasusuallytransits, was open for all commercial »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 People return home after a ceasefire, in Lebanon. REUTERS SC/ST Act added to rape FIR that triggered TCS Nashik arrests Zeeshan Shaikh & Mohamed Thaver Mumbai, April 17 The Nashik Police have added another charge to the first FIR thattriggeredarrestsintheTCS Nashikcase.FIR156,whichwas filed against Danish Sheikh on charges of rape, sexual harassment and hurting religious sentimentsonMarch26,wasexpanded on March 31 to include sectionsoftheScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Police said this is because the complainant woman is a member of the SC community. On Friday, speaking to the media in Kolkata, Maharashtra ChiefMinisterDevendraFadnavis said, “The Nashik TCS incidentthatcametolightwasaserious matter. It is a module that is beingstrictlyprobedtoascertain itsdeep-rootedlinks.Helpisalso being sought from central agencies,wherenecessary,toget to the root of the case. TCS has taken serious cognisance and strongly condemned the incident. They are cooperating and taking necessary measures.” All the accused, except TCS employee Nida Khan, have beenarrested.Herlawyer,Baba »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2