On the evening of April 17, a division bell rang through the new Lok Sabha, the same vaulted, peacock-themed chamber in which, 31 months earlier, amidst a thunderous ovation, the Narendra Modi government had passed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam that reserved 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. This time, though, the mood was hostile. When the Speaker announced the count—298 ayes, 230 nays—the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill had fallen short of the requisite two-thirds majority by more than 60 votes. It was the first time a Modi-era constitutional amendment had been defeated in a floor test, and the reverberations echoed well beyond the chamber.
