‘Selfish politics of Congress, DMK...’: Modi targets Oppn as Women’s Reservation Bill fails in LS

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed the nation, apologising to women over the failure of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament and accusing the Opposition of stalling a long-pending reform aimed at ensuring greater political representation for women.

In his address, Modi said, “Today I'm here to discuss an important issue, especially for the women of this country. Every citizen of this country is witnessing how women's progress has stalled... Despite our best efforts, we haven't succeeded. Amendments could not be made in the Nari Shakti Adhiniyam. I apologise to all the mothers and sisters of the nation for this... Dreams of our daughters crushed. Our women had to face the politics of opposition.”

The Prime Minister’s remarks came a day after the BJP-led government failed to secure the required two-thirds majority to pass the amendment bill in the Lok Sabha. The bill received 298 votes in favour and 230 against, falling short of the threshold needed for passage.

"The nation’s welfare is our priority, but when political benefit becomes the priority for some people, even bigger than the nation’s welfare, the women of the country have to bear the burden for this. The same happened this time as well,” Modi said.

“The country’s ‘Nari Shakti’ had to bear the burden of the selfish politics of parties like Congress, DMK, TMC and Samajwadi Party,” PM added.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla confirmed that the bill had not passed, while Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Centre would not proceed with the remaining interlinked legislations.

"Personally, I had hopes that the Congress would rectify its decades-old mistake, that it would atone for its sins. But Congress lost the opportunity to script history and stand in support of women. Congress has lost its existence in most of the regions of the country. Like a parasite, Congress piggyrides regional parties and keeps itself alive. But Congress does not even want regional parties to grow stronger. So, it hatched the political conspiracy of pushing the future of several regional parties by making them oppose this amendment,” Modi stated. 

Earlier, BJP leader Smriti Irani launched a sharp attack on the Congress and its INDIA bloc allies, accusing them of failing to support the proposal for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament.

She said, "The women of the country were told that the Congress party has created a dream that holds the intention of securing political rights for women. What has become of that intention after 98 years was seen yesterday by women across the country in the nation's Parliament. The Congress party smiled, thumped desks, and celebrated politically yesterday as it crushed the aspirations of the nation's political awakening. But for the BJP, this is not just a struggle for power; it is a fight for the right to equality. Women will remember that during six decades of Congress rule, 11 crore women in this country were deprived of access to toilets. Women will remember that 25 crore women were denied the support to open bank accounts. Women will remember that under the BJP-NDA, the first gender budget framework was introduced."

Irani further alleged, "Congress and its supporting parties celebrated the fact that the struggling political women of this country, who have been working for years and were merely demanding 33% rights. They were immersed in the celebration of how to deny those women their rights by breaking their dignity, and how to win the battle in Parliament. Today, in the Congress press conference, a jibe was made that some people in the BJP tried to play the messiah. I'm stunned that in the Congress press conference, it was stated that they support the bill passed in 2023, which mentions delimitation. But look at Congress's hypocrisy--they also say together that they don't have faith in the committee and the arrangement for delimitation. Congress has no faith in the country's constitutional arrangement, in Parliament, or in the women of the country. Congress has exposed its cruel face in front of the women of the country," she said.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also accused the Opposition of blocking the bill, while Congress leaders maintained that they supported women’s reservation but opposed linking it to delimitation.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, speaking at a rally in Tamil Nadu, said, "Yesterday in Parliament, they came up with a new Bill. They said it was a Women's Bill, but that was already passed in 2023. The hidden agenda behind that Bill was delimitation. The idea was to reduce Tamil Nadu's representation in the Parliament of India and weaken southern and smaller states. We defeated that Bill in Parliament yesterday."

He added that India is a "union of states" where each state must have equal space. "Every state should have a voice in the Union and should be free to express its language and protect its tradition."

The BJP and its allies have since launched protests against the Congress and INDIA bloc, accusing them of being “anti-women” and obstructing efforts to advance women’s representation in politics.