3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Apr 18, 2026 03:27 PM IST
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday called the defeat of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, a win for democracy and accused the BJP of trying to “become the women’s messiah”, saying that its “PR machinery had failed”.
The Bill, which sought to advance reservation of 33 per cent seats for women in an expanded Lok Sabha and state Assemblies and facilitate delimitation of constituencies, was defeated in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
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Speaking at a special briefing at the Congress office on Akbar Road in Delhi, Vadra emphasised that the Opposition was very clear that it would support the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act. “We are very clear—we will say this very clearly. Bring that 2023 legislation and make any change you want, and we will support,” she said.
“The first thing I would like to say is that what happened yesterday was a big win for democracy. The conspiracy of the government to weaken the Constitution was defeated. This was a win for the Constitution, the country and the unity of the Opposition. It showed on the faces of the ruling party leaders,” Vadra said.
She said that the speeches by the prime minister and home minister in the Lok Sabha made it clear that the Bills were a conspiracy to retain power forever. “They said that if we don’t agree with this, then we won’t be able to form a government and sit in the House,” she added.
“The whole conspiracy was to retain power and if they would not do it immediately, they would do it till 2029—the delimitation. The plan was to keep power forever. They used women and their reservation as a decoy,” said Vadra.
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“They thought that if the Bills are passed, they will do delimitation as per their wishes. If not, they will defame the Opposition. They thought they would become the women’s messiah, but it is not easy to become the women’s messiah,” said Vadra. “Women have seen the BJP’s history—we saw in Unnao, Hathras, and women wrestlers in the streets of Delhi.”
Vadra also said that the government wanted to carry out delimitation without taking into account caste census data.
“The women are watching everything—the PR and media baazi. If you want to do something solid, then implement the women’s reservation bill passed in 2023,” she said.
“The people of the country are very intelligent. If they want to do a programme across the country, they can. Whatever has happened in the last two-three days, it shows that they don’t understand people. Their PR isn’t working. The people’s confidence is going,” said Vadra.
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Speaking about the trade deal framework with the US, Vadra said: Things have changed for this government. They are under international pressure. Like my brother said, no PM would sign the deal with the US.”
