India, April 18 -- After the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 fell in the Lok Sabha on Friday - the first defeat of a bill in PM Narendra Modi's government of 12 years so far - one question cuts through the noise of the political battle: Why can't 33% reservation for women simply be implemented in the existing 543-seat Lok Sabha, right now?

The plan, which failed, was to increase the Lok Sabha seats by a flat 50% for now to 816, to a maximum of 850 at some point; and thus give one-third reservation to women as these additional seats are created. The Opposition was up in arms against this seat-increase and delimitation exercise being hastened by using old census data even as larger questions remained unanswered.

The 33% reservat...