The extended three-day special sitting of Parliament’s Budget Session, beginning April 16, resulted in a major setback for the government, as the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which aimed to link 33% women’s reservation with a new delimitation exercise by 2029, was defeated in the Lok Sabha. The Bill failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. Only 298 members voted in favor, while 230 opposed it.

Shelving of linked Bills

Amid continued Opposition protests over the passage of the VB-G RAM G Bill to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die. The Winter Session of Parliament concluded on Friday after 19 days. Taking part in the debate on the VB-G RAM G Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya described the Bill as unconstitutional. While speaking on the Bill, it reminds me of a poem by Sukumar Ray.

The Winter Session of Parliament commenced on December 1 and will continue until December 19. The Opposition MPs have decided to raise several matters, including concerns linked to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, equality, income, the Red Fort blast, labour codes, Delhi pollution, foreign policy, etc. On the first day of the session, the Lok Sabha was adjourned twice due to heavy sloganeering by the Opposition over SIR and “vote chori” allegations.

SPEAKING on the Manipur Appropriation Bill 2025 in the Rajya Sabha, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharyya asked what prompted the Manipur Budget to be placed in Parliament? We talk about being the ‘mother of democracy’, but democracy has been shattered when you find that the Indian Parliament has to take up the Appropriation Bill for Manipur. Our prime minister has given a new theory, that of ‘double-engine sarkar’. Are we going on reverse gear? Manipur was the first place where Netaji  Subhash Chandra Bose came with INA for India’s Independence and that was really a historical event.