The Editorial Page: A political setback for government, a democratic opening for Opposition 8 SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAGE MuMbAI, lAtE CIty, 18 PAgES ₹5.00 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 REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 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 Opp:Hailthe Constitution, BJP’sdeceitful Will work with Tehran to recover chariotstopped enriched uranium: US President 298-230 voting score in House well short of required two-thirds majority Vikas Pathak & Deeptiman Tiwary the editorial page 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 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 IN PArLIAmENt PUShbAck, LESSoN for govt PAgE 8 Asad Rehman New Delhi, April 17 parliament hIgh drAmA, qUIEt cErtAINty — ANd A fALL PAgE 10 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 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 120 148 76 RahulGandhi’s citizenship: AllahabadHigh Courtallows pleaforprobe Express News Service New Delhi, April 17 THE ALLAHABAD High Court on Friday allowed a petition by a Karnataka-based BJP member,VigneshShishir,seekingaprobeintoallegationsthat Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also holds a British citizenship. Justice Subhash Vidyarthi set aside an order of a Lucknow trial court in January, which declined to entertain the petitioner’s plea. The complete order of the High Court is yet to be made public. The trial court had earlier said that under legislation and citizenship rules, it had “no jurisdiction to adjudicate the questionrelatingtothecitizenship or nationality of anyone" while ruling that "the present applicationisnotmaintainable and liable to be rejected”. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 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. business as Usual By EP UNNY E. 92 Help of Central agencies is also being sought, where necessary, to get to the root of the matter, says Fadnavis 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 sentiments on March 26, was expanded on March 31 to includesectionsoftheScheduled Castes 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 Sayyad, told The Indian Expressthat he would soon file an anticipatorybailapplicationon her behalf, adding that she was “a victim of media trial”. He claimed Khan is pregnant and her family is concerned about the impact of the case on her health. On her alleged role, Nashik Police Commissioner Sandeep Karniksaid,"Sofar,herrolehas not emerged in any other FIR. She was an associate and not in HR at the company. In our probe,nolinkhasbeenfoundto the accused (Nida) in any case registered across the country.” Healsosaidpolicehavewritten to central agencies to check claimsthatsomeoftheaccused are linked to banned groups. AnanalysisofallnineFIRsin the case shows that eight carry charges of sexual harassment, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 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 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SC/ST Act added to rape FIR that triggered arrests in TCS Nashik case Zeeshan Shaikh & Mohamed Thaver As Iran opens Strait of Hormuz, Trump says blockade to stay until deal is reached People return home following a ceasefire, in Lebanon. REutERS Humeyra Pamuk, Saad Sayeed & Aziz Taher Washington, Islamabad, Paris, April 17 IRANIAN FOREIGN Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifthoftheworld’soilandliquefiednaturalgasusuallytransits, was open for all commercial vessels following the agreement of a ceasefire in Lebanon, while US President Donald Trump said he believed a deal toendtheIranwarwouldcome “soon”, although the timing remains unclear. InapostonX,Araghchisaid theStrait,whichwaseffectively closed, was open for the re- IAF jet undercarriage fails at Pune airport, flights diverted Soham Shah Pune, April 17 THE UNDERCARRIAGE of a fighteraircraftoftheIndianAir Force (IAF) failed during landing at the Pune International AirportonFridaynight,renderingtherunwayinoperative.The incidenttookplaceat10:25pm. Flights scheduled to land at the airport were diverted to various airports across the country. The aircrew are safe and there was no damage to civil property, the IAF said. In a statement, Airport Director Santosh Dhoke said, “At about 22:25 hours, a fighter aircraft experienced an undercarriage failure during landing, resu-lting in blockage of the runway. As per IAF ATC, it will takefour–fivehourstoclearthe runway and restore normal operations.” TheIndianAirForce-Media Co-ordinationCentrepostedon X,“Punerunwayistemporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an IAF aircraft. The world PAgE 14 mAcroN ANd StArmEr SEEk NAvIgAtIoN SEcUrIty mainderoftheUS-brokered10daytrucebetweenIsraeliforces and Iran-backed Hezbollah agreed Thursday between Israel and Lebanon. Trump told Reuters Friday that the US will work with Iran torecoveritsenricheduranium and bring it back to the US as partofanydeal.“We’regoingto »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kharat aide, wife killed in crash on Samruddhi road; son injured Express News Service Mumbai, April 17 Flights scheduled to land at Pune airport were diverted to various airports across the country. EXPRESS aircrew are safe and there is no damagetocivilproperty.Efforts are underway to operationalise therunwayandresumenormal operations at the earliest.” Pune MP and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Muralidhar Mohol also posted on X that airlines had been informed about the incident. “Thankfully,theaircrewaresafe and there has been no damage to civil property,” Mohol wrote. Vasanthi Hariprakash, a journalist travelling from Pune to Bengaluru on a 10:10 pm Akasa Air flight QP1318, told The Indian Express, “I came to Pune this morning and was »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A CLOSE aide of self-styled godman Ashok Kharat, JitendraShelke,andhiswifewere killed in a road accident on the Samruddhi Expressway on Friday after the car he was travelling in rammed a stationary containertrucknearDhotrevillageinAhilyanagardistrict.His son sustained serious injuries. According to police, Shelke wasdrivingthecarwhiletravellingwithhisfamilyfromChhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Shirdi. Preliminary information suggests that he failed to notice the container truck parked on the roadside, resulting in the car crashing into the rear of the vehicle. In the impact, the car was wedged under the truck. Shelke died on the spot, officials said. Hissonwasrushedtoahospital, whilehiswifewastrappedinthe wreckageforsometime. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l ISSUE DOESN’T SEEM TO HAVE BECOME A MAJOR TALKING POINT AMONG PEOPLE AMID POLLS Delimitation row fuels DMK’s final push against ADMK, Vijay in race against time Manoj C G Karur, Dindigul, Tenkasi, April 17 A WEEK is a long time in politics.AndinTamilNadu,the incumbentDMK,inthethickof itscampaignfortheApril23Assembly elections which may havethrownupvariousimponderables,haslessthanaweekto ignitethedelimitationrowinto a full-blown poll issue. The row does not seem to have become a major talking point among people so far on thepollevedespiteTamilNadu Chief Minister and DMK presidentMKStalin’stoughtalkand call for street protests. But Tamil Nadu’s political landscape is unique in many ways.Itwasthefirststatetoembrace regional forces when it voted out the Congress way back in 1967, when the latter had absolute political domination across the country. DECISION 2026 TA MIL NA DU Governed by the two leading Dravidian parties alternatively for about six decades, the state's natural impulse is to view moves by the Central government with suspicion. This despite the fact that the Dravidian majors have shared power at the Centre in the past as part of different coalitions, both with the Congress and the BJP. Identity politics can never be divorced from Tamil Nadu politics,withboththeDMKand its rival AIADMK always keen to champion Tamil pride. Latching on to the BJP-led Centre's delimitation proposal, Stalin has been trying to campaign on the issue for some time, framing it as an “injustice” to Tamil Nadu and the neighbouring southern states. “The DMK has stood for more powers to the state. But we find that is being consistently eroded... the way this is being altered now. Even though on Thursday, PM Modi has assured that there will not be any change in the proportion of states in the Lok Sabha after delimitation, we have to see how exactly it's being done, why there is no transparency. So, in that sense, it is another opportunity for DMK to show that it is the representative of theinterestoftheSouthagainst a majoritarian North,” says noted Tamil historian and academic A R Venkatachalapathy. But as the poll campaign reaches a crescendo, the conversations on the ground mainly revolve around the impactfilmstar-turned-politician Vijay’s TVK would have on the DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin sets fire to a copy of the Delimitation Bill, at Namakkal in western Tamil Nadu. @MkStAlIN elections besides various local factors including caste. “Next few days, we have to wait and see.It'sjusttwodaysonly(since the Centre brought a delimitation legislation), let us see. I thinkithasgreatimplications,” Venkatachalapathy says. “Ithinkthetimingofthedelimitationmoveisgoingtohelp DMK.Becausethey(Centre)are doing it in a rushed manner. It isnottransparentatall.Andthe Election Commission is not doinganything.Amajorkindof legislativepieceisbeingmoved during the elections. This is all unprecedented. The impression we get is that delimitation might become an important issue,” he adds. The DMK seems to be acutely aware of possible shift of a section of its Dalit and young voters to the TVK – the AIADMK is equally worried – and is keen to rake up the delimitation issue to attract sections which are favourable to theAIADMKbutareupsetwith its alliance with the BJP. These sentiments could be heard not justfromminoritiesbutamong other communities too. The DMK has a history of beingacriticofallcentralisation attempts, fiercely opposed to linguistic and cultural homogenisation.Ithasbeenastaunch votary of “true federalism” and enhanced autonomy for states. Thedelimitationrowfuelssuch a DMK campaign, and that too ontheeveoftheelections.With theAIADMKbeingalignedwith the BJP, the DMK believes it solely occupies the anti-Centre space in the state. “In any case, the AIADMK is not articulating any ideological position,” Venkatachalapathy says. However, the issue is complex and not easily explainable to common voters, unlike the controversy over NEET, devolution of the central funds or Hindi “imposition”. It is being talkedaboutmainlybytheDMK supporters. A large chunk of youth voters, who are enthusiasticaboutVijay,arenotlooking at such issues as they believe in his narrative of change. But Venkatachalapathy says conscious people are agitated.“That'swhyyoufindthat a new generation of educated youth are getting drawn to DMK. Don't just look at Vijay's processions. You look at the forums where the young peoplearetalkinganddebating and discussing. There is no doubt that there is a great awareness,” he claims. Not to be left behind in this identity politics race and give the DMK ammunition that he was“friendly”towardstheBJP, Vijay, too, has quickly painted delimitation as a “biased action” by the Centre, which, he also alleges, would diminish therepresentationofthesouthernstatesinlawmakingrelated to their rights, language and culture while increasing the heft of the northern states. An MP from the Congress, a major DMK ally, says, “Delimitation is not an issue in this »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2