The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill fails in the Lok Sabha
17 April 2026
On 17 April 2026 the Lok Sabha voted on the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026. It got 298 votes in favour and 230 against. That was a majority of the House, but not the two-thirds of members present and voting that Article 368(2) requires, so the Bill fell. The Bill would have raised the maximum strength of the Lok Sabha to 850, let Parliament decide by law which census is used for delimitation, and let the one-third reservation for women apply without waiting for the first census after the 2023 Act. Two companion Bills introduced the day before, the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, were not taken further.
Background. A constitutional amendment under Article 368(2) needs a special majority in each House: a majority of the total membership, and two-thirds of the members present and voting. Of 528 members voting, two-thirds is 352.
Why CLAT asks: The difference between a simple, an absolute and a special majority is a standard question, and this vote is a clean example: a majority of the House that still failed.
Sources: PRS Bill Track: Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026; ISAS, National University of Singapore: Women's quota bill defeated in India amid row over delimitation
The women's reservation amendment of 2023 is brought into force
16 April 2026
The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, received assent in September 2023 but said it would come into force on a date the central government notified. On 16 April 2026 the government notified that date as 16 April 2026. Commencement does not reserve any seat yet. Under Article 334A, the one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies takes effect only after a delimitation based on the first census published after the Act commences.
Background. The 106th Amendment added Article 330A (Lok Sabha), Article 332A (State Assemblies) and Article 334A (when the reservation begins and its 15-year term), and amended Article 239AA for the Delhi Assembly.
Why CLAT asks: Assent, commencement and operation are three different moments for a law. This Act shows all three, years apart.
Source: The Wire: Modi govt enforces 2023 women's reservation Act more than 900 days after it was passed
A resolution to remove Speaker Om Birla is defeated
11 March 2026
On 10 February 2026 opposition members gave notice of a resolution to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla under Article 94(c), alleging partisan conduct. The resolution, signed by 118 members, was taken up in March. On 11 March 2026 it was put to the House by Jagdambika Pal, who was in the Chair, and defeated by voice vote. It was the first such resolution against a Speaker since 1987. No Speaker of the Lok Sabha has ever been removed.
Background. Article 94(c): the Speaker can be removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the House, after at least 14 days' notice. Article 96: while that resolution is under consideration the Speaker cannot preside, but may speak and vote in the first instance.
Why CLAT asks: Article 94 and Article 96 are tested together. Remember who presides, the 14-day notice, and the 'majority of all the then members' rule.
Sources: Business Standard: Lok Sabha rejects motion to remove Speaker Om Birla by voice vote (11 March 2026); Scroll: Opposition's motion to remove Lok Sabha speaker defeated
Harivansh re-elected Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, as a nominated member
17 April 2026
Harivansh's term as Deputy Chairman ended on 9 April 2026 with his term as a member. The President then nominated him to the Rajya Sabha in the vacancy left by the retirement of former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. On 17 April 2026 the House elected him Deputy Chairman unopposed, on a motion moved by the Leader of the House, J.P. Nadda. It is his third consecutive term and the first time a nominated member has held the post.
Background. Article 89(2): the Rajya Sabha chooses one of its members as Deputy Chairman. Article 80 provides for 12 members nominated by the President for their knowledge or experience of literature, science, art and social service.
Why CLAT asks: Nominated members can vote in the election of the Vice-President but not of the President. That contrast, and this first, are likely one-liners.
Source: All India Radio News: Nominated member Harivansh set to be elected RS Deputy Chairman for third term (17 April 2026)
Seven AAP members of the Rajya Sabha merge with the BJP under the Tenth Schedule
27 April 2026
On 24 April 2026 seven of the Aam Aadmi Party's ten Rajya Sabha members announced that they were joining the BJP. On 27 April Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan accepted their claim to be treated as BJP members, which took the BJP's strength in the House to 113 and left AAP with three. They relied on the merger exception in the Tenth Schedule, since seven of ten is more than two-thirds. AAP petitioned for their disqualification, arguing that a merger must begin with the original political party and not only its members in the House.
Background. Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule protects members from disqualification when their original party merges with another and at least two-thirds of the legislature party agree. The 91st Amendment (2003) deleted the old 'split' exception of one-third. The Tenth Schedule itself came with the 52nd Amendment (1985).
Why CLAT asks: Whether a merger is made by the party or by its members in the House is a live legal question, and exactly the kind of principle a legal-reasoning passage builds on.
Sources: The Wire: Rajya Sabha Chairman accepts merger of 7 AAP MPs with BJP; The Week: BJP strength in Rajya Sabha rises to 113 (27 April 2026)
Parliament passes the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill
12 August 2026
The Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 10 August, passed there on 11 August and by the Rajya Sabha on 12 August, according to PRS. It changes the State's name in the First Schedule of the Constitution from Kerala to 'Keralam'. The Kerala Legislative Assembly had asked for the change by a resolution in June 2024.
Background. Article 3 gives Parliament the power to change a State's name. Such a Bill needs the President's recommendation, and the President first refers it to the State's legislature for its views, which do not bind Parliament. Article 4 says such a law is not an amendment under Article 368.
Why CLAT asks: Who initiates and who decides is the question: the State asks, Parliament decides, by ordinary majority.
Source: PRS Bill Track: Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026
Amaravati written into law as the capital of Andhra Pradesh
2 April 2026
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was passed by the Lok Sabha on 1 April and the Rajya Sabha on 2 April 2026, according to PRS. It amends the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 to state that Amaravati is the capital of Andhra Pradesh. The 2014 Act had made Hyderabad the common capital of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for ten years, after which it became Telangana's alone.
Background. Telangana became the 29th State on 2 June 2014, carved out of Andhra Pradesh by the 2014 Act, a law made under Articles 3 and 4.
Why CLAT asks: Capitals and reorganisation laws are easy marks, and the Hyderabad ten-year arrangement is a favourite distractor.
Source: PRS Bill Track: Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026
