Modi’s Defeat a Turning Point; With Delimitation Plan Scuttled, Path Opens for Speedy Implementation of Women's Quota; Quo Vadis QUAD?
In AP, police jail comedians mocking deputy CM, cops ‘rescue' 163 Muslim children headed to madrasas; families push back, Indian firm whose cough syrup was linked to death of kids in Gambia 'rebrands'
A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by Sidharth Bhatia, Siddharth Varadarajan, Sushant Singh, Seema Chishti, MK Venu, Pratik Kanjilal and Tanweer Alam | Contributing writers: Kalrav Joshi, Anirudh SK
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April 17, 2026
Siddharth Varadarajan
In a major setback to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Lok Sabha tonight defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have added more than 300 new members of parliament to the Lok Sabha and set in motion a delimitation of constituencies on the basis of census data that would have enhanced the weight of Hindi-speaking states at the expense of south and east India.
Opportunistically framed by Modi as a move to implement the reservation of one-third of parliamentary seats for women – a measure passed unanimously by all parties in 2023 but still not operationalised – the proposed Constitutional (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 needed the support of a two-thirds majority but a feisty opposition closed ranks and ensured the numbers fell short.
Modi’s delimitation move touched a raw nerve in Tamil Nadu and other southern states and none of the belated assurances he and Union home minister Amit Shah sought to provide about holding each state’s share in parliament constant cut any ice. The DMK used a cricket field to tell Tamil voters what the BJP was trying to do…
For the BJP, says Christophe Jaffrelot, the creation of many small, municipality-like units and constituencies advances the centralisation project and, eventually, the idea and map of “Akhand Bharat”. Quoting a 1957 Bharatiya Jana Sangh manifesto, he read out: “‘Jan Sangh will amend the constitution and declare Bharat to be a unitary state. The establishment of a unitary state will not mean the centralisation of power. Jan Sangh has faith in democracy. To make all people partners in the governance of the country, Jan Sangh will centralise power to the lowest levels of the country.’”
Though the BJP has been quick to present the opposition’s vote as ‘anti-women’, the scuttling of Modi’s hare-brained and dangerous delimitation plan has actually cleared a path for the speedy implementation of women’s reservation – and may even give the opposition an issue to hit the streets over. At the same time, the debate made it clear that the BJP’s commitment to the principle of women’s reservation is linked to male MPs not being displaced. In fact, Amit Shah said this in so many words – arguing that the expansion of the Lok Sabha to 850 members would ensure there is no loss of ‘open’ seats for male politicians.
Sravasti Dasgupta spoke to Seema Chishti and me about the consequences of this defeat and what fights still lie ahead.
In view of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that US President Donald Trump announced yesterday, Iran has declared that the Strait of Hormuz stands “completely open” for all commercial vessels “on the coordinated route” that the Iranian government has announced, until its ceasefire with Washington and Tel Aviv expires on the 21st. On the other hand, Trump has said that while the US is working with Iran to de-mine the strait, the American blockade of Iranian ports and vessels in the waterway will continue “until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete”, something he stated can take place quickly. The president also claimed that the US would retrieve Iran’s buried enriched uranium, but Tehran has not made any announcements over this sticky issue.
As part of a flurry of posts, Trump thanked, alongside the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, “Pakistan and its Great Prime Minister and Field Marshall, two fantastic people!!!” Reuters on Friday cited a Pakistani source as saying that a memorandum of understanding is on the table for a future meeting between US and Iranian delegations, which may be followed by a full deal in the next two months. The news agency also cited a senior Iranian official as saying that there has been an agreement to open up billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets in exchange for opening up the Hormuz strait.
The Independent profiles Munir, Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’.
In other Hormuz-related news, Nidhi Verma and Nimesh Vora report that IndianOil and Reliance paid for their Iranian crude – floating cargoes for which the US issued a waiver to try and manage oil flows amid Iran’s retaliatory blockade – using Chinese yuan via ICICI Bank. Washington has said it will not renew this waiver as well as the one for Russian oil, which India had lapped up after pausing purchases under pressure from Trump.
Verma, Vora and Jaspreet also report that the RBI has asked Indian oil refiners to dial down spot dollar purchases and instead use a special credit line made available via the SBI for foreign exchange purposes. “Using the special credit facility would reduce dollar demand from refiners, helping ease pressure on the rupee,” which has been under pressure from rising oil prices and foreign portfolio outflows, they cite sources as saying. However oil prices tanked after Tehran’s announcement Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is open for commerce.
Is the Quad – the four nation grouping linking the US to India, Australia and Japan – withering on the vine of Trumpian neglect, that too when India was supposed to convene its summit but was unable to? The South China Morning Post reports on how the Modi government has now floated the idea of a ‘leaders level’ meeting of foreign ministers in Delhi for May this year. Most observers in Washington DC see this an idea that is unlikely to breathe life into the body. “Quad is in utter disarray. India is apparently forging ahead with FM-level meeting soon to avoid embarrassment of missing its turn last year when Trump took a wrecking ball to US-India ties,” Derek J Grossman tweeted. “Quad now downgraded and has to suffer leaderless meetings.”
Weeks into the West Asia crisis, is India really coping? In a detailed report, Paridhi Choudhary, Shaswata Kundu Chaudhuri and M Rajshekhar write that “as the energy shortage gets worse on the ground, India’s informal economy has stepped in, providing both black-market gas and firewood. Its solutions are enterprising and customised to local purchasing power.”
Thousands of protesters disregarded prohibitory orders in Manipur’s Imphal West district on Thursday and carried out a torch rally demanding that those behind the Tronglaobi bomb attack earlier this month be arrested. They clashed with security personnel, who fired tear gas and charged the crowd with lathis. Protests have occurred periodically against the attack, in which suspected militants bombed a home near the buffer zone in Bishnupur district, killing two young Meitei children and injuring their mother.
An FIR has been registered against Anil Agarwal, chairperson of Vedanta Resources Limited, along with company manager Devendra Patel and other officials, in connection with the boiler blast at the Vedanta power plant in Chhattisgarh’s Sakti district that killed 20 workers, according to the police.
Teams of the Enforcement Directorate raided properties linked to Punjab industries minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjeev Arora on Friday morning. Arora had reportedly departed for Amsterdam the previous night as part of an official investment initiative. It is not clear why his properties were searched but the ED had raided him in 2024 in connection with allegations of misuse of industrial land. Just two days earlier, the agency had searched properties linked to AAP Rajya Sabha MP and deputy House leader Ashok Kumar Mittal.
The authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal demolished two Muslim religious structures (reports differ on what exactly they were) on the alleged grounds that they were built on government land.
India has officially authorised 15 banks to import both gold and silver from April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2029, after a delay in issuing the approved list disrupted bullion imports. More than 5 metric tons of gold and 8 metric tons of silver had reportedly been stuck at customs while banks waited for the government notification, reports Reuters.
SEZ units have asked the government to provide higher duty concessions – and in some cases zero-duty treatment – for supplies to the domestic tariff area, arguing that they need to match the concessional import duties available under FTAs, reports The New Indian Express. According to officials, SEZ firms say they are increasingly competing not with domestic manufacturers, but with imports from China and FTA partner countries such as ASEAN. They have sought concessions for specific HSN categories where imports are dominant, saying this would help SEZ units compete more effectively in the domestic market. The request comes amid broader concerns from industry groups that Indian manufacturers face pressure from lower-cost imports entering under trade agreements.
A scheduled meeting between Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu and US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor was reportedly cancelled at the last moment during Gor’s visit to Malé in March, according to diplomatic sources cited in reports. The development has drawn attention amid evolving geopolitical dynamics involving the Maldives, India, US and China.
Ashwain Rodrigues writes about the MAGA Indians who ‘went all in on Trump’ and why ‘many US right-wingers can’t stand them’.
“A celebrity MAGA influencer and conspiracy theorist walked into a conclave in India under fire for mocking Indians as “third-world invaders” with low IQ and bad hygiene, but may have walked out as a new mascot for India’s Islamophobes,” writes Debasish Roy Chowdhury about Laura Loomer.
Remember Maiden Pharma, the Indian company whose cough syrup was linked to the death of 66 childen in Gambia in 2022? Well, the company is back – under a new name, unencumbered by any action from Indian authorities, reports Maria Tesresa Raju.
Meenu Batra, Texas’s only licensed Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu legal interpreter is now languishing in a Raymondville detention center, reports Gaige Davila for the Texas Observer. She’s lived in America since 1991 but now faces deportation to a third country. In 1991, as a young woman, she applied for asylum, her parents having been killed in the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom in India.
In Andhra Pradesh, police act against comedians poking fun at deputy CM
Andhra Pradesh’s police have picked up a second comedian on allegations of ‘abusive speech’ against deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan. This time the Vizag police detained Rafiq Mohammad on Thursday after a Jana Sena Party worker complained that his jokes about Kalyan were ‘capable of inciting hatred among different communities and political parties’. Just on Tuesday the Kakinada police went all the way to Prayagraj to detain comedian Anudeep Katikala for his jokes on Kalyan, again on a JSP functionary’s complaint. Apparently these are the bits the police found serious enough to detain Mohammad for, Pavan Korada reports:
“You Vizag people have rejected our Pawan Kalyan … Vizag people not only rejected Pawan Kalyan, even his three wives also rejected him, dude.”
“Pawan Kalyan has been named as the deputy chief minister. I feel that Pawan Kalyan should be the minister of external affairs … because he is the only Indian who made a Russian go down.”
Police ‘rescue’ targets 163 Muslim children headed to madrasas; families push back
The Railways police have said they “rescued” 163 children aged between seven and 18 from the Patna-Purna Express at Katni in Madhya Pradesh, near Jabalpur, after a local child welfare committee member flagged a potential child trafficking case. However, among these were groups of children travelling to madrasas in Maharashtra and Karnataka, with both their parents in Bihar and the madrasas being aware of their travel, Tabassum Barnagarwala reports. Now these children are in state-run protection homes and a group of 40 parents has pooled in their savings to travel to Katni. A similar case has been reported from Cuttack.
Gautam Adani overtakes Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest man
In news that is devoid of all meaning for 1.4 billion Indians, Gautam Adani has surpassed Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Ambani, who leads Reliance Industries and oversees the world’s largest refinery, saw his wealth decline by $16.9 billion in 2026 – the steepest fall among Asia’s wealthiest individuals, as reported by the Financial Times. His net worth now stands at $90.8 billion. Meanwhile, Adani, whose Adani Group has major interests in infrastructure, energy, logistics and materials, added $8.1 billion to his fortune, bringing his net worth to $92.6 billion.
The Long Cable
Modi’s Defeat on Friday Will Prove to Be a Turning Point
By Harish Khare
Only a regime hopelessly besotted with its own cleverness could think of seeking passage of a constitutional amendment Bill, fully aware that it did not command a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. That too, in the middle of crucial campaigning for the Tamil Nadu and West Bengal assembly elections; and, for good dramatic effect, calling a special session of Parliament to push ahead with this sleight of hand. The ruling party’s over-clever and over-cynical floor-managers have ended up doing great damage to parliament’s institutional reputation. Not that they are going to lose their sleep over it.
The ruling regime’s cheer-leaders were all in admiration over how Prime Minister Narendra Modi had very cleverly caught the Opposition on the wrong-foot in the Lok Sabha on Thursday: telling his rivals that if they voted against the move to expand the house to 850 MPs and conduct a delimitation of constituencies on the basis of the latest census data – steps that he inexplicably and illogically sought to link to the reservation of a third of parliamentary seats for women – they would be incurring the permanent wrath of women voters. The sheriff had fired his silver bullet.
How could a cabal which prides itself on its earthiness, on its connect with the masses on the ground, on its ear cocked to the nuances and anxieties in the bazaar, exaggerate the emotional traction of reservations for women in Parliament and assemblies? And, no one knows better than the ruling coterie how it has hollowed out the country’s legislatures. If anything, it is a delicious irony that this very ‘Bharatiya’ dispensation has fallen for a proposal that was first mooted in Parliament by the much-hated Lutyens’ elite.
That apart, Friday’s vote in the Lok Sabha —298 ayes to 230 noes, but well below the two-thirds mark needed —underscores an undeniable erosion of the ruling party’s two assets. First, the prime minister is no longer able to set the narrative; nor is he effective enough to move the reluctant to his own corner. He comes across as a partisan figure, not as a healing guru in a deeply divided nation; more significantly, his trustworthiness quotient seems to have worn out. Public trust was Narendra Modi’s most potent weapon. That stands blunted. No one was willing to believe him or his “solemn” assurances about this tricky business of delimitation that is surreptitiously sought to be pegged on to the women’s reservation.
A prime minister who engages in rhetorical excesses of monumental dimensions outside the house cannot possibly be taken at his face value inside the Lok Sabha. A ferocious partisan at the hustings, Modi cannot easily come to parliament and pretend to be the authentic voice of the nation. Beyond the rejection of the constitutional amendment, the entire National Democratic Alliance government is seen reeking with dishonesty and insincerity. Imagine, the Nari Shakti Vandana Adhyniyam passed was back in September 2023 was finally notified in the Gazette only at 9.55 pm on Thursday night. How pathetically sophomoric!
Second, the treasury benches’ failure to seduce or cajole or otherwise frog-march non-NDA members to vote for the women’s bill marks a decisive moment in national politics. That the Opposition could hold on to its votes suggests that the Modi-induced aura of invincibility is receding. And the consequences of this will be adverse for the ruling dispensation and its operatives.
It must be hoped that the assertion of a kind of parliamentary wholesomeness would also embolden the judiciary to be vigilant in its role as the watchdog of constitutional morality. If the institutional balance in India over the past decade has shifted away from the requisite equilibrium and in favour of a maximalist executive, it is only because at key moments the Supreme Court—under various chief justices—has allowed itself to be overawed by the ruling party’s perceived political momentum. The ruling coterie’s conceit and smugness has made a mockery of the Constitution and its values and principles—and its leaders have been allowed to get away with the violation of constitutional ethics and morality. The moment should be seized and the constitution should be restored to necessary majesty.
The next few weeks would be crucial. Having been taken to the cleaners in the Lok Sabha, the ruling establishment can be relied upon to try to recoup its political fortunes in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Having become addicted to having their way, the Shahenshah and Shah and their spear-carriers are not going to retire to their corner and lick their wounds. Till polling is over in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the saffron establishment will resort to every trick to manufacture a “victory”. This is the time when judicial watchfulness will be tested, given the Election Commission’s unapologetic bias in favour of the ruling party at the Centre. And, of course, beyond the polling, extra-ordinary precautions would be needed on counting day.
Friday the 18th of April 2026 will turn out to be a very good day in the history of our republic. We are entitled to reinforce the confidence that there are limits to the 21st century phenomenon of totalitarians using the democratic mandate and democratic procedures to molest and degrade the Constitution. Baba Ambedkar would see Friday’s vote as a belated birthday gift.
Reportedly
When the largest city in the United States recently elected a new mayor with a strong India connection, Narendra Modi demonstrably refrained from congratulating him. But that hasn’t stopped Donald Trump from publicly congratulating the new lieutenant governor of India’s largest city, Taranjit Sandhu, on his strong US connection: “Congratulations to Taranjit Sandhu on becoming the new Lt Governor of Delhi! As a seasoned Diplomat and former Ambassador to the United States, he has always shown deep commitment to strengthening the U.S.-India relationship. Wishing him success in leading Delhi’s progress, and furthering global ties! President DONALD J. TRUMP”.
Drawn and quartered
Deep dive
Sikhs living in California’s central valley have been targeted for extortion by gangs, including that of Lawrence Bishnoi, operating in the state as well as from India. Reporting for CalMatters, Gagandeep Singh speaks to those affected and to law enforcement to paint a picture of the nature of this racket and what the police have learned about it over time.
Prime number: Rs 76 lakh
The Union culture ministry spent Rs 76,13,129 on advertisements in the print media alone to mark the centenary celebrations of the RSS, an RTI response has revealed.Opeds you don’t want to miss
On Pakistan’s role in the West Asia peace process and the Indian reactions to it, T.C.A. Raghavan notes that despite the Modi government’s strategy of diplomatically isolating Pakistan, “Pakistan is not getting isolated.”
Here’s labour activist Nikhil Dey on the violent protests in Noida earlier this week: “If we continue to view the Noida protests as a “law and order” problem rather than a cry for human dignity, we are deluding ourselves. It is time to provide India’s working class with fair wages, decent working conditions and the right to organise.”
According to Ajit Ranade, the unrest in Noida and Manesar is not simply about labour disputes, but reflects the deeper strain inflation is placing on ordinary households. He argues that stagnant real wages, particularly in rural India, have left families struggling as the cost of essentials continues to rise faster than incomes. Ranade notes that when wages fail to keep up with inflation, households are forced to make painful sacrifices, including cutting back on nutrition, postponing medical treatment and withdrawing children from private schools. “The government announced a 35% hike in minimum wages for unskilled workers. It is barely enough. The protests are a damning verdict on years of inflation outpacing wage growth.”
Subhash Chandra Garg’s argument gets straight to the heart of the rupee’s vulnerability: “The ratio of outstanding foreign debt and portfolio liability to India’s foreign currency reserves is a better marker to see where the rupee-dollar exchange rate is headed. India’s foreign debt is about $750 billion. FPIs’ stock is also about the same amount. Together, these volatile foreign debt and portfolio investment assets are about $1.5 trillion, which is about 2.7 times the RBI’s currency reserves. This is India’s real vulnerability. A ratio of more than 1 should worry policymakers and the RBI.”
Against the background of the delimitation exercise in Assam and the West Bengal SIR, Rahul Verma notes that the “perceived neutrality and fairness of the electoral processes carry greater legitimacy than any defence of changes on the technical and legal grounds”. He writes that “the 2026 elections in Assam and West Bengal risk normalising a campaign in which the rules of the game become contested too”.
Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya argues that welfare transfers are not simply subsidies for the poor, but indirect support for capital in an economy where wages are too low to sustain livelihoods. To dismiss them as political handouts, he says, is to overlook the structural role they play in conditions of deep inequality and insecure employment.
Listen up
Some Pakistani hospitals themselves are putting children at risk of acquiring HIV. For instance, Ghazal Abbasi of the BBC found over the course of her investigative reportage, that the main hospital in Taunsa near Multan often reused vials and syringes for different children. “Cross-contamination seems inevitable” under such circumstances, she notes.
Watch out
Scroll‘s Ayush Tiwari and Raghav Kakkar visited the Noida neighbourhood where workers who participated in protests this week live in packed conditions. “Some of them earn a little bit more than when they began working 20-25 years ago, leaving them incapable [of dealing] with the rising cost of living,” Tiwari says. Watch their report here:
Over and out
The “Laaa la la la la” tune made famous by the Liril soap advertisement was not original, according to reports; it appears to have been inspired by an earlier campaign for the German soap brand Fa. Henkel’s Fa advertisement, created in 1968-69 by the Düsseldorf-based agency Troost, featured a similar jingle for its lime-based soap; the tune was composed by German musician Klaus Doldinger. Liril later turned the song into one of the most recognisable advertising jingles in India.
Pakistan’s memesters have finally made it to the (in)famous New York Post, with one of their memes showing Modi pouring tea in the background while JD Vance and Iran’s Abbas Araghchi pose with Pakistan’s PM Sharif.
That’s it for today. We’ll be back with you on Monday, on a device near you. If The India Cable was forwarded to you by a friend (perhaps a common friend!) book your own copy by SUBSCRIBING HERE.