New Delhi: A day after the Opposition ensured that the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha, three BJP MPs were detained on Saturday by Delhi Police during a protest march to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s residence for scuttling the delimitation bill and women’s quota legislation.
The MPs — former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s daughter Bansuri Swaraj, Union Minister of State Raksha Khadse and Kamaljeet Sehrawat – were among a group of leaders from the saffron party to be detained by Delhi Police personnel, ANI reported.
#WATCH | Delhi: Union MoS Raksha Khadse and BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj detained by Police personnel during protest march to the residence of Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, a day after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill failed to pass in the Lok Sabha. pic.twitter.com/OVdpBcXR8W
— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2026
Actor-politician Hema Malini, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, BJP state chief Virendra Sachdeva, Manoj Tiwari and several women cadre also joined the protest.
Social media platforms were flooded with visuals from the protest sites. Effigies of Rahul, who vehemently opposed the bill during the debate during the last two days in Parliament, were burnt in different parts of Delhi and also other cities like Kanpur.
Some of BJP’s female workers held posters branding Rahul and other prominent Opposition leaders as ‘Dhokebaaz’ (traitor/deceiver).
Delhi: BJP leaders burned down the effigy of Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi due to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill not passed in the Lok Sabha pic.twitter.com/7EhICyoUxe
— IANS (@ians_india) April 18, 2026
Police had to deploy water cannons to disperse women protesters protesting near Rahul’s home.
The Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha was not present at home at the time of the protest as he was attending a poll rally in Tamil Nadu.
The Constitution Amendment Bill, which was part of the delimitation package, failed the Lok Sabha test on Friday, with 298 members voting in favour of the bill and 230 against it. A two-thirds majority was required to clear the bill.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8.30 pm today, and is likely to speak about the collapse of the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill, targeting opposition over their decision.
The Congress has clarified it does not oppose women’s reservation but the delimitation process linked to the bill, which seeks to increase the seats in the Lok Sabha to 815.