A DAY after after the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 — aimed at fresh delimitation, raising the ceiling of Lok Sabha members to 850 and operationalising 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies — was defeated, Prime Minister Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Opposition, particularly the Congress, DMK, TMC and Samajwadi Party, and accused them of “bhrun-hatya” or foeticide by blocking the women’s quota legislation.
He said there will be more opportunities going ahead and that his government and party were determined to eliminate every “obstacle” in its way .
Addressing the nation Saturday evening, Modi said, “Is imandaar prayaas ki Congress aur uske sahyogiyon ne sadan mein poore desh ke saamne bhrun-hatya kar di… Mahila aarakshan ka virodh karke jo paap vipaksh ne kiya hai… iski unhen saja jaroor milegi (Congress and its allies committed foeticide of this honest attempt in the House before the entire nation. The Opposition will surely be punished for the sin of opposing women’s reservation).”
Framing the government’s defeat in Lok Sabha not as a failure but its inability to secure two-third majority, the Prime Minister said, “Even though we may not have secured the 66 per cent votes required to pass the bill today… I know that the blessings of 100 per cent of the country’s women, our ‘Nari Shakti’, are with us,” Modi said.
“Kal hamare paas sankhya bal nahin tha, lekin iska matlab yeh nahin hai ki hum haar gaye. Hamara aatmabal ajey hai. Hamara prayaas rukega nahin… Hamare paas aage abhi aur mauke aayenge. Hamein aadhi aabaadi ke sapnon ke liye, desh ke bhavishya ke liye, is sankalp ko poora karna hee hai (Yesterday, we lacked numerical strength, but that does not signify defeat. Our inner strength is invincible. Our efforts will not cease… We will have more opportunities ahead. We are bound to fulfil this dream for the sake of the dreams of half the nation’s population, and for the future of the country),” the Prime Minister said.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026 was defeated in Lok Sabha on Friday, with only 298 votes in its favour and 230 votes against it, well short of the required two-third majority.
Targeting the Congress, the Prime Minister said, “It has consistently conspired to obstruct women’s reservation and once again proved it is an anti-reform party…Its anti-reformist stance has caused immense damage… It follows a singular pattern: whenever any reform is introduced, it resorts to lies and spreads confusion.”
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Modi hit out at the Trinamool Congress and DMK, the parties Bharatiya Janata Party is fighting in the ongoing Assembly elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu respectively, and the Samajwadi Party which is its principal opposition in Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly polls are due early next year.
He also sought to buttress a point Union Home Minister Amit Shah made in the Lok Sabha that the government was committed to increasing the MP strength of every state in the enhanced Lok Sabha on a pro rata basis i.e., by keeping its proportionate strength intact. This has been a key point of contention since the Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha did not specifically mention it; the Bill said the seats would increase based on the population of the latest available Census, which is Census 2011.
“It was an endeavour to ensure an equal enhancement of strength across all states—be they in the North, South, East, or West. It was an effort to provide greater strength to the voices of all states within Parliament. It was an attempt to boost everyone’s strength in equal proportion; yet, the Congress party and its allies (DMK, TMC and Samajwadi Party) have, right here in this House and before the entire nation, committed an act of ‘foeticide’ against this sincere endeavour. They stand as criminals against the nation’s Constitution. They stand as criminals against the country’s women,” he said.
Apologising to women for failing to pass the Bill, Modi said, Modi said, “From day one, the government has made it clear that neither the participation ratio of any state will change, nor will anyone’s representation be reduced. On the contrary, the seats allocated to all states will increase in equal proportion. Yet, parties such as the Congress, DMK, TMC, and the Samajwadi Party remained unwilling to accept this.” But these ‘dynastic’ parties were scared that strengthening the women of the country would endanger the leadership.
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Modi said passing the women’s reservation Bill was not about credit. “The issue is not about failure or taking credit. I had said in the Parliament that half the nation’s population must get its due. Let them get their due, and I will take out advertisements giving the credit to the Opposition,” he said.
“The DMK had an opportunity to help even more Tamil people become Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assembly—thereby further strengthening the voice of Tamil Nadu. However, it lost that opportunity. The TMC, too, had a chance to uplift the people of Bengal; yet, the TMC also let this opportunity slip away. The Samajwadi Party, likewise, had an opportunity to remove the stigma attached to its anti-women image; but the SP, too, failed in this regard…The women of Uttar Pradesh—and indeed of the entire nation—will never forget that the SP stands opposed to women’s reservation,” Modi said.
