The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, introduced in April 2026, proposed a substantial expansion of the strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats and sought to operationalize 33% reservation for women through an expedited delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.However, the Bill failed to secure passage in the Lok Sabha, falling short of the constitutionally mandated special majority, with 298 votes in favour against the required 352. Critics have argued that despite being framed as a measure to advance women’s political representation and agency, the Bill functioned as a strategic instrument to facilitate delimitation and thereby reconfigure electoral demographics.In this reading, the discourse of women’s empowerment served as a legitimising framework for a broader structural intervention in the representational architecture of the Indian polity. This critique gains further traction when situated within the legislative trajectory of women’s reservation in India. The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, had already provided for 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. However, its implementation remains contingent upon the completion of a fresh census, which is yet to occur, since the last census was conducted in 2011.Women’s political reservation is not unprecedented in the Indian context. Provisions for reservation at the level of local self-government institutions were institutionalised through the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts in 1992 and 1993, respectively, which mandated quotas for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies. Two decades after the enactment of these constitutional provisions, the extent to which they have translated into substantive empowerment for women remains a matter of critical inquiry.Also read: The Great Indian Trade-Off: How India’s Local Body Politics Betray the CityWhile formal political inclusion has undoubtedly increased, questions persist regarding the degree of actual agency exercised by women representatives within local governance structures.‘Pradhan ji’ and patriarchyPopular culture has also engaged with this issue in a reflective and critical manner. The widely acclaimed series Panchayat, released on Amazon Prime Video in 2020, offers a satirical portrayal of grassroots politics in India. The narrative foregrounds the character of “Pradhan ji,” who, despite not holding formal office, continues to wield de facto authority because the elected position of village head (Sarpanch) is occupied by his wife. This depiction underscores the persistence of patriarchal power structures; wherein formal representation does not necessarily translate into substantive decision-making authority for women.The series thus raises larger normative questions: Does the institutionalisation of reservation automatically ensure empowerment? Do women representatives genuinely occupy positions of power, or are they often constrained by entrenched social hierarchies? To what extent do they possess the autonomy and capacity to exercise political agency?While Panchayat presents a fictionalised account, it resonates strongly with empirical realities in India. The phenomenon of the “Pradhan Pati,” wherein male relatives informally exercise authority on behalf of elected women representatives, has gained significant visibility. While there is no official data on Pradhan Patis, proxy governance has become a part of local governance in India. In response, initiatives such as the 2025 campaign “Asli Pradhan Kaun? (Who’s the real pradhan?)” have sought to promote authentic female leadership and ensure that political reservation results in genuine empowerment rather than symbolic representation.While election to public office marks a significant entry point for women into the political sphere, it constitutes only an initial step. The substantive dimension of empowerment emerges when elected women begin to exercise their rights and responsibilities in practice, actively participating in local decision-making processes, cultivating political confidence, and asserting a meaningful presence within existing power structures.Empirical studies, including research conducted by Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) and its partners on women’s leadership in Panchayats, have identified multiple structural and socio-cultural barriers that constrain such participation. These include low levels of literacy and education, adherence to restrictive social norms, limited awareness of institutional roles and responsibilities, and the intersecting influences of caste hierarchies and patriarchal practices.Also read: In a Democracy, Education Certificates Shouldn’t Matter. So Why is No One Talking about Norti Bai?Additionally, political affiliations and, at times, the indifferent or unsupportive attitudes of government officials further inhibit effective engagement. The Lokniti CSDS study on women’s electoral participation and representation also reflect the same trends.Undermining womenInstitutional mechanisms have also, in certain instances, been deployed in ways that undermine women’s participation. The provision for no-confidence motions, for example, has reportedly been misused by dominant social groups and upper-caste actors to destabilise and discourage elected women representatives, particularly those from marginalised communities. Moreover, the circulation of malicious rumours by vested interests creates an environment of insecurity that further limits women’s ability to function autonomously.In the case of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) women representatives, these challenges are compounded by entrenched bureaucratic prejudices. Government officials, often habituated to interactions structured by rigid caste hierarchies, may find it difficult to recalibrate their approach when engaging with women and SC/ST elected members. This results in an additional layer of marginalization, thereby constraining the transformative potential of political reservation.The proposed women’s reservation framework, particularly when intertwined with a broader delimitation agenda, is unlikely, by itself, to ensure substantive agency or empowerment for women. Legislative expansion alone cannot address the structural and socio-political constraints that continue to limit women’s effective participation. What is required instead is the strengthening and meaningful operationalisation of existing institutional arrangements, where women already possess formal authority but often lack the conditions necessary to exercise it in practice.In this context, the introduction of additional legislative measures may have limited impact unless accompanied by robust implementation of current provisions. Without addressing the gap between de jure rights and de facto realities, new laws risk remaining largely symbolic rather than transformative. Taken together, the debate surrounding the 2026 Bill to expand the number of Lok Sabha constituencies reflects a tension between normative commitments to gender inclusion and representational restructuring. These developments highlight the gap between formal inclusion and substantive empowerment, pointing to the need for a deeper engagement with the socio-political conditions that shape women’s agency in governance.Misbah Rashid is Assistant Professor, Centre for Federal Studies, Public Policies and Governance, Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi.