3 min readNew DelhiApr 18, 2026 11:26 PM IST
A day after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, fell in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the opposition in his address to the nation Saturday night, using the analogy of female foeticide. He used the word ‘Bhroon Hatya’ to attack the opposition for blocking the passage of the Bill, and two other Bills related to it that lapsed with the core Bill being defeated in a division of votes in the House.
This happened a day after the Lok Sabha rejected an amended constitutional amendment bill to advance women’s reservation to 2029, while the 2023 Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam to provide women’s quotas post-delimitation after the figures of the present census are released still stands.
Congress as “anti-reform”
While attacking the Congress as an anti-reform party, the PM promised that he would work to remove every hurdle in the path of women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
“Women on board”
PM Modi claimed that while the Bill could not garner two-thirds support in the Lok Sabha, 100-percent women of the country were blessing him. In saying so, Modi sought to project the Bill’s failure as an expression of the opposition being “anti-women” and as an endorsement of his party being truly committed to women’s empowerment through assured representation. He attacked the opposition’s applause for the rejection of the Bill, saying that it was an attack on women’s self-respect that women never forget.
Electoral outcome
Modi cautioned the parties that had opposed the Bill in the Lok Sabha that they should not take “Nari Shakti” lightly, suggesting that women of the country would punish them for it. Apart from attacking national rival Congress repeatedly, the PM also attacked the DMK, TMC and SP. While elections to the Tamil Nadu and Bengal state assemblies are on – where the BJP finds formidable foes in the DMK and TMC, respectively – Uttar Pradesh goes to the polls next year, and SP is the BJP’s formidable opponent in the state.
Dynastic politics
Modi said that dynastic parties had opposed the Bills, since they were afraid that common women would benefit if it was passed. He added that the Congress had proved by opposing the Bill that it was an anti-reform party given to distraction.
No regional discrimination
PM Modi asserted that the Bill would have facilitated a uniform 50-% increase in seats across states and not disturb the inter-state seat balance hitherto based on the 1971 census, amid criticism that the 2011 census being evoked by the failed Bills would alter the inter-state distribution of Lok Sabha seats if the Bill had been passed.
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No Credit
During his speech, the PM refuted the idea that he was seeking credit through the Bill, adding that he would have had no problem sharing credit with the opposition. “Some people are saying this is a failure of the government. But the issue is not about credit or discredit. I had said I would credit the opposition with advertisements (if the Bill was passed),” Modi said.
